This is Our Life
by Tinkerbell3902
Summary: COMPLETE. A series of Johnny and Lulu drabbles that chronicles their life together with their family, friends, and kids... JoLu fluff.
1. The Proposal

**A/N:** Alright… here's the start of my JoLu drabble series! Some parts will be longer than others but I've wanted to do something like this for a while… I really hope you like it and if you have an idea for a scene, either message me or leave a review with your idea :) Happy reading and don't forget to leave a review! I'm actually going to try and respond to my reviews now, so please review!

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**The Proposal**

She was laughing.

Usually he loved the sound of her laugh but right now, it was the worst thing that could've possibly happened because it was at his expense. She covered her mouth and tried to tone her uproarious laughter to a quiet giggle but her cheeks were so pink that he thought that they might burst.

"You're kidding me right?" she laughed.

He rolled his eyes and rose to his feet. Of course most women would've been crying tears of joy when her boyfriend of a year and a half got down on one knee and asked her to marry him but he had to go and fall in love with the only one who thought that he was joking. However, she quickly noticed his serious expression and the ring box in his hand and her laugh died on her lips. Her hands immediately covered her mouth and her eyes widened.

"You're—you're serious?" she squeaked.

"I was… until you started laughing at me…" he growled, snapping the ring box shut.

"Oh my—oh my god!" she cried.

"Nope… you had your shot and you blew it…" he said, trying to turn away and she immediately lunged for his arm.

"Ask me again…" she said.

"No." he said flatly and she pouted.

"Ask me again…" she repeated.

"I'm not going to ask you again…" he said, shaking his head.

"Johnny!" she cried.

"Lulu, will you marry me?" he asked, exasperated.

The corners of her mouth turned up and a smile broke across her face. She pressed her lips to his and he could feel himself smiling too. Words couldn't even describe how much he loved this girl in his arms.

"You want to get married? For real? You're not just asking me because you think you need to?" she asked.

"Why can't you be like normal girls and say yes and demand for your ring?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Because if I were like other girls, you wouldn't love me… now give me my ring and ask me properly!" she said, gesturing for him to get back down on one knee.

He gave her one of his trademark smirks that he knew would melt her heart and sunk down onto one knee. She was trying her best to keep a straight face but the corners of her mouth curled up into a smile as he looked up at her.

"Lesley Lu Spencer… will you do me the great honor by becoming my wife?" he asked, opening the ring box.

The ring was probably the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen. It was a four carat princess cut diamond that was flanked by two smaller square diamonds. It looked like something that belonged on a queen not a girl from a small town in New York.

"Yes! Oh my god yes!" she exclaimed.

He quickly took the ring out of the box and slid it on her finger. She admired it as it sparkled in the light and a warmness flooded her heart. He laughed as she threw her arms around him, squeezing him tightly. He stood up, still with her in his arms and whirled her around. The sheer look of joy on her face was one that he wanted to see every single day for the rest of his life.

"So what kind of wedding do you want? The only thing is, we can't elope… everyone, especially Carly and Maxie, would give me so much grief if I didn't have a 'proper' wedding…" Lulu began.

"It doesn't matter to me… all I want is you… walking down the aisle towards me…" he said.

"That… I can definitely do…" she said right before catching his lips in a kiss.


	2. The Date

**The Date**

"That bitch!!"

Johnny groaned as his fiancée's angry voice drifted into the living room where he was reading his newspaper. The stress of planning a wedding was starting to take its toll on Lulu. In order to not be on the receiving end of her anger, he let her do whatever she wanted to do.

"I can't believe that she did this!" Lulu shrieked.

"Who did what, Lulu?" he asked.

"Maxie! She just informed me that she's planning her launch party for her new magazine on November 16th!" she said, angrily striding into their living room.

"And that's… bad?" he asked.

Lulu's nostrils flared and she immediately picked up a nearby pillow and hit him on the back of the head with it. He yelped like a pitiful animal but Lulu's eyes were unforgiving.

"I can't believe that you don't remember the date that we set for our wedding!" she seethed.

"I thought that we said that we were _considering_ the 16th…" Johnny said.

"Now you sound just like her! She said that she was doing me a favor by taking the 16th so I wouldn't have the same wedding date as my parents!" Lulu shouted.

"Maybe… you should let her have the 16th and we can push our date back…" he suggested.

"And let her win? No! That's it… I'm calling Carly and she's replacing Maxie as my maid of honor…" she said, immediately lunging for the phone but Johnny was quicker and grabbed the cordless handset before she could get her hands on it.

"Give me the phone…" she demanded.

"Calm down first…" he said.

"Give me the damn phone, Johnny… or so help me god… sex will become a very distant memory…" she said, trying to grab the phone but he held it out of her reach.

"What's the difference between the 16th and the 25th?" Johnny asked.

"You want to push our date back by a week?" Lulu asked.

"What's a week when I'm going to have forever with you?" he asked.

Her arms fell to her side upon hearing his words. It was astounding how he knew exactly what to say at the exact moment that she needed to hear it. She sighed as she sat down on their couch and Johnny joined her, setting the phone aside. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and she felt herself relax into his body. Times like this, when the stress of planning a wedding seemed to take over her life, made Lulu realize why she was going through all this trouble: She loved this man with every fiber of her being.

"Ok… we'll move our date…" she conceded.

Johnny kissed her temple and she let out a sigh. She hated losing to Maxie but lying in Johnny's arms made the outside world seem irrelevant.

"That's my girl…" he whispered and she laughed.

"Oh, you like it when I listen to you, huh?" she asked, turning to face him.

"Only because you rarely do it…" he countered.

"I'm sorry… I never thought that I'd get wrapped up in planning my own wedding and now that I am, I feel like I'm turning into a 'bridezilla'." Lulu said, cringing, and Johnny laughed.

"It's ok… it's one day that's supposed to last you for the rest of your life and you want what you want… but seriously… one week? That's a bit dramatic…" he said.

"Yeah, I guess… oh and I'm sorry for threatening you with no sex… we promised that we weren't going to do that anymore…" she sighed.

"Only because it hurts you more than it does me…" he snickered.

Lulu gasped and pinched Johnny's arm. He grabbed her wrists and swiftly turned her over and pinned her underneath him. He smirked at her, thinking that he had the upper hand but she was quicker and hitched her free leg around his waist and pulled him down to her.

"You want to know something?" he asked, leaning in towards her lips.

"What?" she breathed.

"_I love… when you're angry…_" he whispered.

His lips were mere centimeters away from hers and she tried to reach up to meet his lips but he pulled back, laughing slightly under his breath. He released her and rose to his feet. Without saying another word, he turned around and began walking.

_Three._

_Two._

_One._

As soon as he finished counting, Lulu immediately grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and was dragging him in the general direction of their bedroom. Her lips met his with the fury and fire that he loved about her as they stumbled down the hallway.

"There was no way in hell that I would let you get away with that, Zacchara…" she said in between kisses and as they both tore at each other's clothes.

"I guess this is how I have to make up the one week delay right?" he asked, pulling her into the bedroom.

"You're damn right it is… and you are not leaving this room until I've forgiven you…" she giggled, slamming their bedroom door behind them.


	3. Ground Rules

**A/N:** I know that these little snippets are needed because the GH writers have decided to royally screw us JoLu fans over… I can barely bring myself to watch GH right now. I'm debating whether to write a scene at the JoLu wedding or not, which would be the next scene that I post… I have a few ideas of what I'd write if I did a scene from the JoLu wedding but I'd love to hear your input! Anyway, I thought that this would be a cute little scene to write so I hope you like it… happy reading and don't forget to review!

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**Ground Rules**

"Rule number one… no strippers…"

Johnny stood in front of his beautiful but increasingly demanding fiancée with his arms folded, being scolded like a bad child in school. She was straightening the collar on his jacket like a little boy and he rolled his eyes. Apparently there were stipulations on his bachelor party.

"Rule number two… hey! Don't roll your eyes at me!" Lulu said, poking her finger at his chest.

"You seem to forget that Spinelli is throwing my bachelor party… I doubt he would know where to even begin to look for strippers…" he chuckled.

"Which brings me to my second rule… rule number two… no watching any porn…" she stated and he burst out laughing.

"Are you joking?" he laughed.

"No! I'm not joking! If I hear one tiny thing about you doing something at your bachelor party… this wedding will be off before you can even begin to apologize!" she growled.

She stood there as he tried to keep a straight face but he couldn't. He covered his mouth with his hand and snickered. Her hand curled up into a ball, like she was a second away from hitting him. Of course she would never do that but he could be so damn frustrating sometimes.

"What?!" she finally cried.

"You are **so** cute when you're paranoid… everything is going to be fine…" he said, putting his hands on her narrow shoulders.

She huffed and folded her arms and Johnny couldn't help but to smile. She was so adorable when she was nervous but she had nothing to worry about. There was no other woman for him and there was no other woman that he would ever want except for her.

"I love you, Lulu… and nothing is ever going to change that… especially not some strippers at my bachelor party…" he said, putting his arms around her.

She sighed and he felt her body relax. She seemed to be at ease in his arms. Her arms wrapped around his frame and squeezed him tightly.

"I know… but just because I know you would never do anything like that doesn't mean I'm ok with you having naked women parading around the Haunted Star for your bachelor party…" she said, clinging to his jacket.

"Well, just so you know… I already talked to Spinelli… and I told him no strippers." Johnny said.

She pulled away from him and he laughed as the expression on her face was one of complete shock and disbelief.

"Are—Are you serious?" she asked.

"Of course I am… I didn't think it was wise to have strippers at my bachelor party where my fiancée's older brothers were going to be… Nikolas actually was able to get us one of those corporate boxes at Madison Square Garden for the Knicks game tonight… so no strippers whatsoever… actually we probably won't have any women in our suite… so you have nothing to worry about…" he said before he placed a kiss on her lips.

"You promise? No women at all?" she asked.

"I promise… even Claudia is coming to your bachelorette party so she won't even be at my party… so no women whatsoever…" he said and Lulu cringed.

"Oh right… Claudia is coming tonight…" she groaned.

"Hey… be nice, ok? And not just for my sake… she is married to Nikolas now…" he said.

"I'll behave… but, Johnny… aren't you going to ask if I'm getting male strippers for my bachelorette party?" she asked and he shook his head.

"Nope… because I know that nothing is going to happen… I trust you… and besides… Claudia would tell me in a heartbeat if anything went down…" he said, winking.

"And she would just love that…" Lulu said.

Johnny laughed and shook his head. He heard the limousine that was taking him and the others into Manhattan pull up in front of the apartment complex. He kissed her forehead and started towards the door.

"Have fun, Lulu…" he said, smiling.

"You too! Not too much fun though…" she said.

"Oh… and Lulu?" he asked.

"Hm?" she asked.

"Try not to ogle the male stripper's ass too much…" he joked.

Lulu flushed bright red and immediately swatted Johnny's shoulder. He laughed as she shoved him out the door. She didn't know why she bothered sometimes. He was sarcastic, cocky and downright obnoxious most of the time. She pressed her fingertips to her temple as she leaned against the door. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Ugh… what?" she groaned, opening the door.

She barely got the words out before Johnny pressed his lips to hers, pressing her against the frame of the door, and she felt her knees give out underneath her. When he finally pulled away, she felt like she was going to faint.

"I can't wait to marry you…" he whispered.

It was times like these when she knew why she bothered.


	4. The Dance

**A/N**: So since a lot of people wanted a scene from the JoLu wedding, I thought that this would be a sweet little scene to write without going overboard by writing out the entire ceremony… I draw a lot of inspiration from music when I write, so I like incorporating it into the story… so the song that I used is "You and I" originally sung by the fabulous Stevie Wonder but I was listening to both the original version and the Michael Bublé cover (which is equally beautiful and I highly recommend it) while writing this… Happy reading!! :)

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**The Dance**

"Please join me in welcoming Mrs. and Mr. John Zacchara!"

All of the guests, dressed in their best for the biggest wedding to hit Port Charles in years, stood up and cheered as Johnny and Lulu entered the ballroom at the MetroCourt. The couple was met with smiling faces and applause at the two of them finally tying the knot after almost two years together. Johnny held her hand tightly as he led her through the doors like they were royalty. She couldn't remember the last time she had smiled this much or the last time she was this happy.

"Congratulations!!!" Maxie Jones, Lulu's best friend and maid of honor, cried as she gave Lulu a kiss on the cheek.

Maxie had been the first one to rush Lulu soon after she and Johnny arrived at the MetroCourt from the church. At her side was her husband and Johnny's best man, Damien Spinelli, who was equally cheerful about Johnny and Lulu's wedding.

"Maximista and the Jackal are most pleased with the Original Blonde One's nuptials to the Mob Prince…" Spinelli said.

"Thank you, Spinelli… we really appreciate that…" Johnny said, wrapping his arm around his wife.

She put her hand on his chest and beamed up at him. Finally being married to Lulu was so incredibly surreal. Honestly, he didn't think that he would get overly emotional about the wedding but as soon as he saw her in her dress at the end of the aisle, he just disintegrated into a crying mess.

_And if he knew Lulu, she would never let him forget it…_

"Cupcake…"

Lulu turned around and saw both her father and mother standing before her, arms linked and as happy as two parents could be. Lulu immediately put her arms around her mother and Laura embraced her warmly.

"We are so happy for you, Lulu…" Laura said after kissing her daughter's forehead.

"We really are, pumpkin…" Luke chimed in.

"And your father will never admit it but he was up all last night… crying about you growing up and getting married and—" Laura started and Luke turned a shade of dark red and Johnny snickered beside Lulu.

"Oh really? Is that true, dad?" Lulu asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Your mother has a tendency to… exaggerate… I was not up all night crying…" Luke said, immediately jumping on the defensive, and they all laughed.

"I always knew… from the first time I met you, Johnny… I knew that you and Lulu would last…" Laura said.

"I did too…" Lulu said, wrapping her arms around Johnny's torso.

The first time she laid eyes on the man in her arms, she knew that she would never be the same. All of her life, she had been searching for something, yearning for something, and it was him. He was her destiny and she was his.

"I can't believe that you just got married…"

Nikolas, accompanied by his wife and Johnny's older sister, Claudia joined the crowd and everybody laughed. Lucky soon came up behind his older brother, clapping him on the back and smiling cheerfully. It was a relief that both Lucky and Nikolas had come around in regards to Johnny and Lulu's relationship.

"Doesn't it just seem like yesterday that Lulu was five years old, crying about not wanting to go to school?" Lucky asked.

"Please, I remember when John used to climb into my bed when he saw a 'monster' in his closet…" Claudia chuckled.

"Imagine when your own kids get married… then it'll really hit you…" Luke muttered and pointed towards the table where Spencer Cassadine was sitting with Jake Morgan and Morgan Corinthos. Nikolas immediately blanched and the entire Spencer clan burst into laughter at Nikolas' expense.

"Now… will the bride and groom please come to the dance floor for their first dance as husband and wife?"

Johnny turned around to see Carly holding the microphone and beckoning the two of them over. Luke, Laura, Nikolas, Claudia and Lucky returned to their table, Claudia and Lucky still giggling over Luke's comment and Nikolas' uneasiness.

"Shall we, Mrs. Zacchara?" Johnny asked and Lulu blushed heavily.

"God, am I going to ever get used to that?" she laughed as she slipped her arm around his and they walked towards the dance floor.

"Used to it or not, you're finally all mine…" he whispered, pulling her close.

The little things that he said always made her want to melt in his arms. She felt one of his hands come to her waist and the other took her hand in his. She then carefully placed her free hand on his shoulder. He held her so close that she could feel his heart beating against her chest.

"What song did you pick anyway?" she asked, remembering that he had wanted to choose their first dance song but keep it a surprise.

"You'll see…" he said as a small but sly smile curved across his lips.

"Oh no…" she chuckled.

She was almost cut off by the start of the song. The piano was soft and low and she closed her eyes as they began dancing. Her forehead pressed against his cheek as they swayed along to the music. She was sure that she was living in one of those fairy tale stories that her mother read to her when she was a little girl because she had everything that she could ever want. His voice brought her out of her daydreaming but she then realized that he was singing along to the music.

"Here we are… on earth together… It's you and I… God has made us fall in love, it's true… I've really found someone like you… will it stay… the love you feel for me? Will it say… that you will be by my side to see me through? Until my life is through… well, in my mind… we can conquer the world… in love… you and I…you and I… you and I…" he whispered.

The parquet underneath her feet seemed to melt away as he held her and sang softly. There was no one else in the room or in the entire world in that moment. It was just the two of them. He drew her in closer, closing all the space that was between the two of them.

"I am glad… at least in my life… I found someone… that may not be here forever to see me through… but I found strength in you… I only pray… that I have shown you a brighter day… because that's all that I am living for… you see? Don't worry what happens to me… cause' in my mind… you will stay here always… in love… you and I… you and I… you and I… you and I… in my mind, we can conquer the world… in love, you and I… you and I… you and I…" he sang.

A warmness flooded her heart and she squeezed him tighter. The song ended and he immediately kissed her, slow and sweet, and the wedding guests clapped and cheered around them. The song that he picked couldn't have been more perfect and the fact that he picked a song that conveyed his feelings for her made it even sweeter because there was so much truth in the lyrics.

They really would conquer the world.

Together.


	5. Domestic Goddess

**A/N:** I've been having the most hectic week/weekend so I'm sorry for the delay but I can't tell you how much fun it is to write these snippets and I'm glad that you're enjoying them as much as I do! I thought that it was important to show a few scenes with just the two of them being married before I introduce their kids… which reminds me… does anyone have any suggestions for a boy's name for Johnny and Lulu's son? I have a name now but I'm not wild about it… he's not going to make his appearance for a while so you have plenty of time to give me your input :) Happy reading!

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**Domestic Goddess**

"Crap!"

Lulu glanced up at the clock and immediately panicked. Johnny was due home in a half-hour and Lulu had yet to start making dinner. It was Johnny's birthday and she wanted to do something special. So she decided to make his favorite dish: grilled swordfish.

Except that she wasn't the greatest cook.

She went into the kitchen and began pulling out all of the food that she had bought at the supermarket today in preparation for Johnny's birthday dinner. Upon looking at everything she had to do, she regretted not making those reservations at the MetorCourt like Carly had suggested. But she wanted to do something different for his birthday. She turned on the faucet in the sink to wash the spinach that she bought for the salad and she smiled. It had hardly seemed like six months since she and Johnny got married. Looking back, she thought about how stupid she was to be so cynical about marriage because marrying Johnny Zacchara was the best thing she ever did.

"Oh!" she said.

She snapped out of her love sick trance by the oven sounding, letting her know that the oven was now heated to four-hundred degrees for the garlic bread that she was making. She popped the bread into the oven, getting the easy part out of the way. She turned around and sighed. Those stupid swordfish steaks were staring her in the face, taunting her.

"Ok, Lulu… you can do this… you've survived multiple hospital crises, hostage situation and a mental breakdown… you can cook this stupid fish…" she chanted.

She pulled the recipe for the dish, one that she had found in a magazine, out of her pocket and unfolded it. She began with chopping the tomatoes and then moved onto the basil. She quickly threw the fish into the marinade that she had made and then tossed the fish into the pan and popped it in the oven as well. As soon as she had finished, she heard the door open. In her surprise, she knocked over the bowl that she was going to use to prepare the salad.

"Oh no!" she cried.

"Lulu? Are you alright in there?"

She looked up and Johnny was standing above her, trying hard not to smile. He looked around at the spread of food that filled the kitchen and chuckled.

"You're cooking?" he asked.

"It's your birthday and I just wanted to do something special…" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Aww… I appreciate the gesture… but you can't cook, Lulu…" he said.

"I resent that! I can too cook!" she cried.

"Ok… I'm sorry… you can cook… you can cook slightly burnt grilled cheese sandwiches and decent tasting spaghetti… but that's about it…" he laughed and she pouted and swatted him on his shoulder.

"Hey, it's not nice to hit the birthday boy…" he teased.

"Well, it's not nice to make fun of your wife who's trying to do something nice for your birthday…" she whined, folding her arms across her chest.

He took her in his arms, like he always did when she went on the defensive, and she relaxed, wrapping her arms around him. Sometimes she could kick herself for forgiving him so easily when he just held her like this but his arms were heavenly. He kissed her forehead and she sighed.

"Well, I agree… cooking dinner is very thoughtful… but why didn't you just make reservations at the MetroCourt? You didn't have to go through all this trouble just for me…" he said.

"I know… but I just wanted—I just wanted to do something special…" she said softly.

"Just being with you is all I want for my birthday, Lulu…" he whispered.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him slowly. She felt herself being lifted off her feet and onto the kitchen counter and her hands were pushing his black blazer off his perfectly sculpted body. She suddenly felt his lips stop and his body froze.

"What is it?" she asked, pulling at the collar of his shirt.

"Do you smell something burning?" he asked.

Lulu immediately looked past Johnny and sure enough there was smoke that was slowly billowing from the oven. She yelped and pushed him out of the way as she hopped off the counter. She could hear him trying not to laugh in the background and she lunged for the oven door. As soon as she opened the oven, smoke poured into their small kitchen. She grabbed a nearby oven mitt and took out the completely charred garlic bread and burnt swordfish steaks.

"How did this happen? I just put these in!" she cried.

Johnny, who was still laughing, came over and looked at the oven.

"Oh, Lulu… you set it to broil instead of preheating the oven…" he chuckled.

"Damn it!" she shouted, angrily slamming the oven door shut.

"Lulu, it's ok…" he said, putting his hands on her shoulders but she just shook her head.

"No it's not! I messed up everything!" she huffed.

"No you didn't… we—we still have your salad, right?" he asked, trying to cheer her up.

"No, forget it… I knew I should've just made those reservations…" she said.

"Come on, Lulu… it's not the end of the world if you're not Martha Stewart…" he said.

"But I'm your wife! I'm supposed to know how to cook and bake and—and everything else that wives are supposed to know how to do!" she cried.

"I didn't marry you for your cooking skills… I married you because I love you… I didn't marry you because I thought that you would make a 'good wife'… I married you because I want to spend the rest of my life with you… ok? So, calm down…" he said.

She exhaled deeply and all of tension seemed to melt away with his words. He always knew what to say and when to say it. She really did have the greatest husband in the entire world.

"Ok, calm now?" he asked, smiling.

"Yes…" she said, nodding.

"Ok… can you handle clean up here on your own? I'll be right back…" he said, picking up his jacket off the floor.

"Wait, where are you going?" she asked.

"Don't worry… you haven't scared me off yet, Spencer…" he said, kissing the top of her forehead before he trotted out the door.

Johnny returned to their apartment a half-hour later, armed with a bakery box and two forks. Lulu, who was watching television on their couch in the living room, sat up when he came through the door.

"What's in the box?" she asked.

He opened it up and she immediately smiled.

"Oreo cheesecake…" she said.

"Your favorite… and I even stopped to buy some whipped cream on the way back…" he said.

He sat down beside her as she took a fork in one hand and the whipped cream in the other. Before she even took a bite, she set down her fork and turned around to face him.

"Johnny?" she asked.

"Hm?" he asked.

"It's your birthday… and I know for a fact that your favorite flavor of cheesecake is strawberry… so why did you buy the oreo?" she asked. He smiled and shook his head, like the answer to that question was so completely obvious.

"Because I wanted to see you smile… that's all that I really wanted for my birthday…" he said, curling a piece of hair around her ear.

She set down the plastic fork in her hand and wrapped her arms around Johnny's neck. His arms snaked around her waist and pulled her in closer as they sat together on that couch.

"I love you…" she whispered.

"I love you too…" he said as he pressed his lips to hers.

The cheesecake went untouched that night.


	6. Satisfaction

**A/N**: I always pictured Lulu to be a Rolling Stones fan so I thought that this would be a fun scene to write. As an FYI, the song that Lulu sings is "Satisfaction" and the second song that plays is "Start Me Up"… both are by the Rolling Stones :) This one's really short but the next one is going to definitely be longer... enjoy!!!

**Satisfaction**

Johnny opened the door to the apartment and was immediately met with blaring music. He laughed to himself and took off his jacket. He then went to the hall closet to hang up his coat. If it were any other day, he would've just thrown it on the armchair but Lulu had her music on, which meant only one thing.

She was cleaning.

It was a rare occasion and usually only happened when she couldn't stand the mess in the apartment anymore. She put on her music loud enough that it could be heard throughout the apartment and over the vacuum cleaner.

"Lulu?" he called out as he walked towards their bedroom.

He pushed the door of their room open and of course it was spotless but his wife of two months was nowhere to be found. He closed the door behind him and that's when he heard a voice coming from the kitchen. He leaned against the doorway of the kitchen just watched her. Her hair was up in a messy bun and she was wearing one of his old t-shirts and a pair of sinfully short shorts. She was singing as she was cleaning their stove.

"I can't get no… satisfaction… I can't get no… satisfaction… 'cause I try… and I try… and I try….and I try… I can't get no…" she sang.

She swung her hips and bobbed her head along to the music. He didn't know how it was possible but she made scrubbing down the kitchen look extremely sexy. She finally finished and she victoriously threw the sponge that she was using into the sink. The kitchen was now just as neat as the rest of the apartment.

"Looks good…" he finally said.

She jumped at the sound of his voice, clearly startled by his sudden presence, and he laughed. She quickly curled her hair around her ear, desperately trying to make herself look semi-presentable, but he wouldn't have wanted to see her any other way.

"How long have you been standing there?" she asked.

"Long enough to notice that you can't sing a lick…" he chuckled.

"Is that so?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"But it's ok… I didn't marry you for your voice…" he laughed, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"You're not so perfect either, Johnny…" she teased, tapping him on the nose with her index finger.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I was singing from _personal experience_… but it's ok… I love you even if you're not skilled in **every** area…" she said, smirking.

Johnny feigned a shocked expression upon hearing her words and she laughed. He loved it when she sparred with him. She turned away from him and washed her hands in the sink. She had thrown down the gauntlet and he had to rise to the occasion.

"Mrs. Zacchara… those are fighting words… you leave me no choice…" he said.

She laughed again as she reached over to grab a paper towel. He reached over to the CD player and skipped ahead a few tracks. Hearing the song start, she immediately turned around to face him but he was already in front of her, his eyes locking onto hers.

"If you start me up…" he started and she began laughing.

"Oh no…" she giggled as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"If you start me up, I'll never stop…" he whispered against her neck.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as he pressed gentle kisses along her neck and collarbone. She didn't know how she had ever survived without feeling the intensity that she did when Johnny kissed her. She felt herself being lifted off the ground and she eagerly wrapped her legs around his waist. He exhaled sharply and pressed her against the wall. He then took her hair out of the bun and let her golden tresses fall down to her shoulders.

"I've been running hot… you got me ticking… gonna blow my top…" he murmured in her ear as he ran his fingertips over her lips.

Her lips parted and she gently ran her tongue over the pads of his fingertips. There was no way that he was going to outdo her. A smirk passed over her lips and he groaned as he quickly reached over and turned off the CD player. Removing her from the wall, he hastily carried her down the hallway and into their bedroom, not even bothering to close the door behind him.

"Oh… my… god…" she panted, putting her hand over her wildly beating heart.

An hour had passed and both Johnny and Lulu were on their backs, staring up at their ceiling, completely spent but floating on cloud nine.

"If… I ever… catch you singing that song again…" he muttered as he turned towards her and she giggled.

She pushed him onto his back and swung one of her legs so that she was straddling his waist. Her husband's eyes widened from surprise. He did always say that being with her was not for the faint of heart. She wasn't a sprint… she was a marathon.

"What? What are you going to do?" she asked, running her hands up his chest.

He smirked and quickly turned her over so that she was lying beneath him. He must've done something right in a past life because he was married to a goddess. He pressed his lips to hers, slowly savoring the taste of her.

"You make a grown man cry…" he whispered.


	7. Double Take

**A/N**: This one was **so** much fun to write and you'll see why ;) Thanks for all of your great comments! I love them all and they're the reason why I keep writing!

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**Double Take**

"Happy Birthday to you… Happy Birthday to you… Happy birthday dear, Nadia… Happy Birthday to you!!"

The entire family was gathered around a large cake. The cake was topped with enormous pink and yellow flowers made out of frosting. It was definitely a culinary work of art and was probably too extravagant for a one year old's birthday party.

But this was Nadia Dominica Cassadine's birthday party and even at one year old, she was royalty.

Nadia gurgled happily at all of the excitement and kicked her chubby little legs as Claudia held her in front of the cake. Nadia's lone candle was blown out, with help from Nikolas, and everyone at the party cheered. Nikolas, being the doting father that he was, immediately took her from her mother's arms and kissed his daughter's cheek. Nadia laughed happily at all of the commotion that was directed at her and Johnny and Lulu looked on happily at their niece as she enjoyed her very first birthday party.

"Wow… can you believe that Nadia is one year old?" Lulu asked, linking her arm with Johnny's.

"Nope… it seems like it was just yesterday that Claudia was bitching about not being able to fit into her shoes when she was pregnant with Nadia…" Johnny laughed.

Taking their slices of cake, Johnny and Lulu found a table in the corner of the expansive yard and watched the scene around them. Alexis and her husband Ric were sitting near them, watching their daughter Molly run around with Cameron Webber, Spencer Cassadine and Jake Morgan. Kristina Corinthos-Davis was taking her little brother Dominic Lansing around the grounds by the hand. Patrick Drake was chasing his young daughter Emma around the lawn while his wife Robin and her best friend Elizabeth Webber looked on, laughing. Jason and Sam Morgan were sitting with Carly and Jasper Jacks at a separate table with their children Michael and Morgan Corinthos.

"Gavin! Gavin, come back here!"

Both Johnny and Lulu turned around towards the voice and saw a young Gavin Spinelli, who had just learned how to crawl, crawling away from his mother, laughing. Lulu stood up and quickly grabbed the young child off the grass. Maxie Jones let out a sigh of relief as she neared Lulu.

"Oh thank god you grabbed him, Lulu… he's definitely his father's child… he's a little ball of energy…" Maxie said, stroking her son's brown hair.

"He just likes me better… don't you, Gavin?" Lulu laughed and Maxie huffed.

"He so does not… Gavie is all mine… aren't you?" Maxie cooed and Gavin laughed and extended his arms out for his mother.

They both laughed and Lulu handed Gavin back to his mother. Spinelli came soon after to take Gavin inside to be changed even though Maxie had surprisingly offered to do it. Motherhood had definitely changed her best friend for the better.

"So I went to the doctor today to confirm…" Lulu started.

"And? What did Kelly say?" Maxie asked and Lulu smiled and that's all that Lulu needed to do to inform Maxie of her good news.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!! This is so exciting! Have you told Joh—" Maxie started but Lulu immediately hushed her.

"Shhh! Johnny still doesn't know!" Lulu hissed.

"I still don't know what?"

Lulu and Maxie turned around to see Johnny standing behind them, holding two glasses of the fruit punch that was being served at the party. Maxie pursed her lips and looked to Lulu to cover.

"You—You still don't know the surprise I have planned for our anniversary!" Lulu said, hoping that he would buy her story.

"Oh… well… Maxie? Do you mind if I steal my wife away for a few moments?" Johnny asked.

"Absolutely not! I'm going to go find Spinelli and Gavin… I hope he actually knows how to change a diaper…" Maxie said before taking off across the lawn and into the main house. Johnny handed her a glass of the punch and she immediately sniffed it.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"This isn't alcoholic, is it?" she asked.

"It's a birthday party for a one year old, Lulu… of course it's not alcoholic…" he laughed.

Upon hearing that, Lulu took a sip from the cup and he chuckled. He took her by the hand and they began walking around the grounds. The spring air was fresh and fragrant from the surrounding gardens. Johnny looked over at his wife as she looked up at the crisp blue sky and all he could think about was how beautiful she looked. Something was different about her. Some sort of beautiful energy was just radiating off her skin, giving her this amazing glow that he had ever seen before.

"Lulu…" he started.

"Hm?" she asked, her head still pointed towards the sky.

"You know… I've been thinking…" he began.

"Yeah?" she mused.

"I want us to have a baby…" he said.

Lulu's gaze immediately snapped to him upon hearing his words. She never expected him to be the one to say that he wanted to have kids. In fact, she was a bit worried about how he would react when she got pregnant.

"You—You want to have a baby?" she asked and a smile spread across Johnny's face as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Yeah… I do—I mean… just being out here and watching everyone and their kids just made me start thinking… I—I want that… with you… and we've been married for almost a year and I think that we're ready…" he said.

She smiled and immediately threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. She was always worried that he wouldn't ever want to have a family but this was the best news in the world because there was nothing else that she wanted more than to have children with the man that she loved.

"So… how about we go to the main house and use one of those eight million guest bedrooms and get started working on our baby?" he asked right before kissing her slowly. She giggled softly and pulled away from his lips.

"No need…" she whispered.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I'm _already pregnant_, Johnny…" she said, beaming up at him.

His hands immediately went to her stomach and he looked at her, hoping that she wasn't joking.

"You're—You're pregnant?" he stammered.

"Yes… I am…" she said, cupping his face in her hands.

He quickly smiled and kissed her again. All words failed him in that moment because no words could express how incredibly happy he was. She was carrying his child.

"Come on…" he said, eagerly taking her by the hand.

"What? Where are we going?" Lulu laughed.

"We're telling everyone!" he said.

"But wait! There's something else I need to—" she began but it was no use. He was a man on a mission.

They made their way back to the main area where everyone was still gathered and Johnny immediately got everyone's attention and told them their great news. Carly was the first one to react, by screaming at the top of her lungs in excitement and she threw her arms around Lulu.

"Well it's about time!" Carly finally said.

"Oh my god! Congratulations!" Claudia said, immediately kissing her brother's cheek.

"How far along are you?" Maxie asked.

"Six and a half weeks… I went to the doctor today to confirm…" Lulu said.

"So… what are you two hoping for? A boy or a girl?" Laura asked, holding Nadia at her hip, who was babbling away happily.

"It doesn't matter to me… but I'm predicting that Johnny wants a girl…" Lulu said, looking up at her husband.

"Oh, so you're ready to do the pink, the Barbie dolls and the tea parties?" Nikolas laughed.

"Whether it's pink and tea parties or blue and dinosaurs... I'll be happy…" Johnny said, putting his arm around Lulu's waist.

"Well… we could have both…" Lulu mused and all heads turned to her.

"What do you mean?" Johnny asked, taking a sip of his drink, and Lulu smiled sheepishly.

"Well, that's what happens when you have twins…" Lulu said.

Johnny immediately spat out his drink upon hearing her words, causing everyone around them to burst out into laughter.

"Wait… what?" Johnny asked and Lulu giggled.

"You heard me… we're having twins…" Lulu proudly said.

The ground underneath his feet seemed to disappear. They were having twins… as in two kids… as in double midnight feedings and double stress. He had already heard some of Claudia's stories about barely sleeping through the night anymore after Nadia was born, even with she and Nikolas alternating on baby duty. He was already worried about having just one kid.

"When—When did this happen?" Johnny asked.

"What kind of dumb question is that? You're the one who did it…" Maxie muttered and Carly chuckled beside her.

"I tried telling you but you were so set on telling everyone before I could finish…" Lulu explained.

"Nik? Can you run in the house and get my brother something a little stronger… I think he's going to need it." Claudia snickered as she took her brother's virgin punch out of his hand.


	8. Comfort Food

**A/N:** Thank you guys for the lovely comments… I'm so glad that you guys are enjoying my own little JoLu world where they're together and ridiculously happy, which is what we deserve to have right now :) Happy reading and keep the comments/reviews coming! I love hearing from you guys!

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**Comfort Food**

"Johnny? Are you awake?"

No.

That's what he wanted to say. It was one-thirty in the morning and frankly, he was exhausted. Lulu had convinced him to come shopping with her for baby stuff for the twins. They had spent the entire day in that freaking mall and his entire body ached from carrying two car seats, two highchairs, two cribs, a changing table, and an endless amount of shopping bags full of clothes up to their apartment. He wanted to wait until the renovations on their new house were complete to do the shopping. However, he quickly learned not to argue with his supremely hormonal wife.

It never ended well.

"Johnny?" Lulu asked, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hmmm?" he muttered sleepily.

"Are you awake?" she asked.

"I'm talking to you, aren't I?" he said, still with his eyes closed.

"Johnny…" she whined and he groaned. He knew what that tone meant.

It was another craving.

Why women crave the most absurd combination of foods during pregnancy was beyond him. He didn't mind that she had the cravings but rather that she always got cravings late at night when no regular restaurant was open was what irked him.

"What is it this time?" he asked, finally turning around to face her.

"I really really **really** want some country fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy… lots and lots of gravy… and some sliced pineapple for sweetness." Lulu said.

"You have got to be kidding me…" he groaned into his pillow.

"Johnny… I need it…" she cried.

"Where am I supposed to find country fried steak? It's one-freaking-thirty in the morning!" he hissed.

"I don't know… maybe… oh isn't IHOP open twenty-four hours? There's one off the interstate… go there!" she said.

"The nearest IHOP is ten miles out of town!" he groaned, pulling a pillow over his head, but she pried it away from him.

"Johnny… please?" she begged.

He groggily opened his eyes and he groaned again. He could never deny her anything. He rolled out of bed, pulling a gray sweatshirt over his head, and stumbled towards the door.

"Wait!" she called after him.

"What?" he snapped.

"You didn't kiss me and the babies goodbye…" she said, putting her hand over her growing stomach.

He sleepily ambled back over to the bed and pressed his lips to hers and then placed a careful kiss on her belly. His growing stubble tickled her stomach and she giggled softly. She knew that he liked to complain and put up a fight whenever one of her late night cravings took over but deep down, she knew that he could never deny her anything while she was carrying his children.

And she was going to exploit that shamelessly.

"Thank you…" she said.

"Yeah… yeah…" he muttered, walking out of the bedroom.

Johnny sleepily returned to their apartment forty-five minutes later, IHOP bag in hand. He set the bag on their small dining room table and slumped into a chair nearby. Lulu unpacked the food, her eye roaming over all of the food that she had been craving for over an hour. She closed her eyes and inhaled the delicious aroma of the spread of food. When she opened her eyes, Johnny was slumped over, chin on the table, sleepily staring back at her.

"You know you can go back to bed, Johnny…" she said, picking up her fork, but he shook his head.

"I'm too tired to even move…" he muttered.

"Johnny… come on… back to bed…" she said, pointing in the direction of their bedroom.

"No…" he yawned.

"Johnny… go back to bed… please…" she said, putting her hand on his cheek.

"I'll go back to bed when you're finished…" he said.

"No." she said firmly.

He raised his head up at her declaration. She was staring at him, eyes narrowed and arms folded across her chest above her protruding stomach.

"Why can't I just stay here for now?" he asked.

"Because…" she muttered.

"Because why?" he asked.

"Because I'm already fat and if you watch me eat all of this food, you're going to be completely disgusted and you're not going to want me anymore!" she cried, pushing the plate of food away from her.

His eyes opened as much as they could while running on low sleep and he blinked slowly. He could see that she was already getting emotional and he groaned internally. Surely these were her hormones talking and not his wife and he let out an exasperated sigh. This was getting ridiculous.

"First off, you're not fat… you're _pregnant_… and not just with one child but with two and therefore you are going to gain some weight… secondly, just because you're pregnant and you've put on some _necessary_ weight or because you can eat a mountain of food in under fifteen minutes is not going to make me want you any less… so I'm staying right here until you're ready to go back to bed… meaning that you need to shut up and eat the food that I went out at one-thirty in the morning to get you…" he said, pushing the plate back in front of her.

"You promise?" she squeaked.

"Yes… I will love you and want you when you're eight thousand pounds, Lulu…" he muttered.

A smile crossed her lips and she happily ate her food while Johnny watched silently. When she was done, Johnny cleared the table and they walked hand in hand back into the bedroom. Even though he had done it a thousand times before, Lulu's heart fluttered every time he would wrap his arm around her waist as they lay in bed together. He almost instantly fell asleep as his head hit the pillow. She knew that he meant everything that he said but she knew the real reason why he insisted on waiting until she was finished to go back to bed. She smiled and put her hand on top of his hand that was gently cradling her stomach.

He couldn't sleep without the three of them.


	9. Daughters

**A/N**: So after that crapfest that we got on GH yesterday… I figured that this fluff is severely needed. I don't know about you but my gag reflex was definitely kicking in during that whole Maxie/Johnny conversation on the docks and that kiss literally almost made me run to the bathroom. Ugh… so gross. So, therefore… in reaction to that episode, I'm writing this piece because I know that I need to see some positive JoLu. I originally had another scene planned for my next installment but after yesterday, we need this one. Enjoy! I really hope you guys like it!!! :)

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**Daughters**

"Johnny… come here…"

The doctors had cleared out of the room after the delivery and he was standing near the doorway looking at his perfect wife holding their equally perfect twins in her arms. He neared the three of them and Lulu smiled warmly up at him. Her eyes were tired but filled with love as she looked from him to their children. He kissed her forehead sweetly and he could barely contain his pride.

_Because Johnny Zacchara was a dad… a dad to two beautiful twin girls._

Johnny sat next to his wife as she cradled the girls in her arms. Lulu had her doubts about her ability to be a good mother but Johnny assured her that she would be the best one that they could ever ask for. He gently placed a kiss on the tops of both of his daughters' heads and smiled contently.

"I think we need to give these little ones names…" he said.

"Alright… what names were you thinking about for a girl?" Lulu asked.

"Well… what about Mia?" he asked and Lulu wrinkled her nose.

"Ok… that's a no… hmmm… what about Ava?" he asked.

Lulu looked down to her right to the child with the blonde patch of hair on top of her head and smiled.

"Ava Laura Zacchara… does that suit you, blondie?" she asked and the baby yawned contently.

"I think she likes it…" he said.

"I think she does too… and I think she wants daddy to hold her…" she said, shifting her body so that Johnny could take her.

"Oh no… I can't…" he said, shaking his head.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Well, what if I drop her?" he asked and she laughed.

"You're not going to drop her, Johnny… you're her dad… you're not going to drop her, trust me… just make sure that you support her head and she'll be fine…" she said.

Johnny exhaled nervously and he took Ava into his arms. Ava made a few whimpering noises from being shifted between her parents but Johnny quickly soothed her and she snuggled into his arms like it was the most natural thing in the world. Lulu smiled as she watched him stare at her, completely engrossed in his new role as a father.

"See… I told you… you're a natural…" Lulu sighed and Johnny looked up at her and smiled.

"So… this one right here's got a name… what about her sister?" he asked.

They both looked down at the baby in Lulu's arms, sleeping soundly with messy dark hair like her father's. Lulu had bought five books filled with baby names that were in their new house and she had highlighted about fifty names that she liked but none of them were screaming at her as the perfect name.

"You're going to hate the names I came up with…" she chuckled.

"Try me…" he said.

"Well… I wanted something… unconventional…" she started.

"Uh oh…" Johnny laughed.

"What about Regan?" she asked.

"Regan…. Regan Maria Zacchara… I like it…" he said, gently stroking the dark fuzz that was on top of her head.

"Really? You do?" she asked.

"Yeah… don't you like your sister's name, Ava?" Johnny asked, looking down at the sleeping baby in his arms.

"You want to take her too?" Lulu asked, shifting little Regan in her arms.

Johnny didn't even have time to respond because Lulu immediately put her in his arms. He looked nervous as he held the two girls in his arms but seeing how trusting both Regan and Ava were in his arms seemed to relax him.

"Ava and Regan Zacchara… ready to take on the world… and breaking some hearts along the way…" Lulu cooed and Johnny shot her a stern look.

"No… these two aren't dating until after they graduate…" he said, shaking his head.

"Graduate from high school?" she laughed.

"No… from graduate school… because these two will be doctors, lawyers, or CEOs… and those stupid high school and college boys won't be good enough for the two of them…" he said, looking at the two of them, and Lulu laughed.

"Overprotective and they're not even a day old yet…" she said, shaking her head.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Lulu was pretty sure that this was the mass mob that had gathered when Lulu had gone into labor. Sure enough, their entire extended family piled into the hospital room.

"Oh my god! Lulu! You're a mom!" Carly squealed.

"Where are my granddaughters?" Laura asked.

Laura, followed by Luke, neared her two grandchildren with a huge smile on her face as Luke pressed a kiss to his daughter's forehead. Johnny carefully handed the two girls over to their grandmother and Claudia immediately rushed to her brother and kissed him repeatedly.

"Johnny, I'm so incredibly happy for you!" Claudia said as both Nikolas and Lucky went over to their mother to meet their new nieces.

"These girls are absolutely gorgeous…" Laura gushed.

"Of course they are! They're Spencers!" Luke said and everyone laughed around them.

"So what are their names?" Nikolas asked and both Johnny and Lulu looked to each other and smiled.

"Ava Laura Zacchara and Regan Maria Zacchara…" Lulu said.

"Beautiful names for two beautiful little girls…" Claudia said.

"Welcome to the world, Ava and Regan…" Laura cooed to the girls.

The twins made their cute gurgling noises and the entire family just about exploded out of cuteness. They made a small circle around Laura, who was still holding the twins, and Johnny slid in beside Lulu. Completely exhausted from the hours of labor and delivery, she wrapped her arms around his torso and snuggled into his chest. He didn't know where he would be or if he would even still be alive if it weren't for her and her unshakable faith in him. Two years ago, if someone would've told him that he would be a father, he would've thought that the person was insane. But now, he had a family. He had a wife who adored him and two girls who depended on him and he was so incredibly happy. He pressed a kiss to her temple and she sighed contently.

"Thank you…" he whispered.

"For what?" she asked.

"For giving me the family that I've always wanted…" he said.


	10. Let's Go Crazy

**A/N**: Sorry that I've been off the radar lately… I had a HUGE project due for class but now it's finally finished!! Yay!!! So, I got quite a few requests to write a scene with Johnny dealing with a drunk Lulu… so here it is! I wanted to work it into the story that I have in my head for the two of them so that's why it took me awhile to figure out where exactly to put this scene… I'm not sure if I like how this turned out but I think it's a bit funny and that's what I was going for… I hope that you guys didn't think that I forgot about you :) Happy reading!

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**Let's Go Crazy**

"So I was thinking…"

Johnny chuckled as Lulu slid her hands around his shoulders as he sat on their couch. He sighed softly as her lips pressed to the back of his head. He set down his book and put his hands on top of hers. He knew that voice all too well. She was up to something.

"What were you thinking?" he asked.

"Well, my mom called… and she told me that the nursery at her house is finally finished…" Lulu started.

"Uh huh…" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"And I think that she **really** wants the girls for a sleepover…" she said before pressing a kiss behind his ear.

"A sleepover? Are you sure? You hardly want to take the girls out of the house in their stroller…" he chuckled.

"Yeah… but now they're finally weaned and on formula… and besides, it's only for one night…" she whispered.

Her voice was low and sultry, sending a shiver down his spine. He absolutely adored being a father to the two most beautiful little girls in the entire world but these past seven months had been nothing short of a non-stop marathon, leaving very little time for just the two of them. He turned his face into hers and kissed her slowly. A night alone with his wife without the midnight feedings? What more could he ask for?

"I'll call her right now…" Lulu whispered as she pulled away from his lips.

A few hours later, the twins were successfully dropped off at their grandparents' house. Luke and Laura seemed to be thrilled to have their granddaughters for the entire evening. When Johnny returned back home from dropping Regan and Ava off, Lulu already had an entire spread out on their dining room table.

"You didn't waste any time…" he said, shrugging off his jacket.

"Of course… not…" she giggled.

She was holding a martini glass in her hand. The set of glasses with the mixer had been a housewarming gift from Maxie, along with a book on how to make all sorts of mixed drinks. Johnny was actually surprised that she had made martinis for the two of them because she said that a real girl can drink the same stuff as the guys and she often did out-drink him.

At least before they had the twins.

Lulu actually hadn't had a drop of alcohol since she got pregnant. She had read all the baby books that said that alcohol consumption was ok while breastfeeding as long as it was in moderation and monitored but Lulu, being a first time mother, said that she wouldn't have a drink until the twins were done with breastfeeding and she had successfully gotten the girls on the formula.

"How many of those have you had?" Johnny asked, pointing to the glass.

"Ummmm… I don't—I can't remember…. I just know that… they taste soooo good…" she said, slightly slurring her words and he couldn't help but to laugh.

"You didn't think to slow down a bit?" he asked.

"And why would I do that?" she asked.

"Because it seems like you're drunk or you're one more drink away from being drunk…" he laughed and she looked at him and frowned.

"Why are you **such** a buzzkill, Johnny?" she whined.

"I'm not a buzzkill… I'm just saying that you haven't had a drink in over a year and you're going for the strongest stuff that we have in the house…" he said, pointing to the vodka that was sitting beside her, and she immediately scoffed.

"This isn't thaaat strong…" she said, before erupting into a fit of giggles and he laughed along with her.

"But this is…" he whispered.

He then bent over and kissed her long and slow. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down towards her. Since Regan and Ava had entered their lives, they hadn't had a lot of time just to be together. They both adored being parents but taking care of seven month old twins didn't really leave them exhausted at the end of the day.

_Needless to say, they had to come up with some more creative and faster ways to be intimate._

But now, they had the entire house to themselves for the entire night and Lulu clearly was thinking the same thing. She was now standing up, completely pressed up against him and kissing him in a way that let him know exactly where she wanted to go that night.

"You are sooo… sexy…" she whispered and he burst out laughing.

"You think I'm sexy?" he laughed.

"In-cred-ibly…" she said, enunciating each syllable, and he laughed.

"What brought on this… revelation?" he asked.

"I mean… you just walked in… wearing that tight… tight… **tight** blazer that shows off your arms that I absolutely love… and I just started thinking… I'm married… to the hottest guy in the freaking world…" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck again.

The amount of alcohol that she had before he came back home was starting to take hold of her speech. Her words were getting a bit slurred and her eyes were getting slightly droopy from one too many martinis.

"Ok, now I know you're drunk…" he chuckled.

"So I have to be drunk to comment on your attractiveness?" she asked, putting her hand on her hip.

"I don't think that you've **ever** told me that I was sexy before…" he said, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Really?" she asked, sounding almost shocked.

"If I didn't know any better... I would say that you're trying to seduce me…" he said, raising an eyebrow, and she smiled.

"Is it working?" she asked.

He immediately picked her up and she responded by wrapping her legs around his waist. He carried her upstairs to their bedroom, laughing and kissing all the way. They fell onto their king-sized bed, still attached to each other. He didn't know when the next time they would have the house all to themselves would be so he needed to capitalize on the situation. She pulled away from his lips and sighed dreamily.

"I feel so warm…" she muttered.

Her eyes began to flutter as she lay beneath him. She immediately turned into his chest, snuggling against him, and five seconds later, he heard her snoring contently.

"You've got to be kidding me…" he laughed.

A part of him was irritated. All of the anticipation of having the house to themselves for the night had elicited many thoughts and none of them ended with his wife passed out from being drunk thirty minutes into their evening. He sighed heavily and managed to remove his arm from underneath Lulu. He looked over at her, sleeping soundly, and he laughed.

_Justice would definitely be served in the morning when she woke up with a massive hangover and with two babies in the house._


	11. Mother's Day

**A/N**: I'm so sorry that I've been off the radar lately… I had finals but now I'm DONE!!! (At least until August) So I'm definitely brainstorming my next long series right now… I'm actually going between two-three ideas right now but look out for a new long series from me soon but I'm definitely going to keep this one up… So in the spirit of Mother's Day, I thought that this would be a cute little piece to write. Enjoy and don't forget to leave some love!! Oh and Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there :)

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**Mother's Day**

"Are you ready to go?"

Johnny groaned as he put his tie on, making a face at the pastel purple color of the tie. He hated wearing ties and he hated wearing ties in horrible colors. Lulu joked that he looked like that Chuck character from that show that she and Maxie used to watch when he wore pastels.

"Yeah… do you have the girls ready?" Johnny called back.

Carly Jacks was throwing her inaugural Mother's Day brunch at the MetroCourt hotel today. It was basically just a good excuse for most of the town to dress up, drink champagne and socialize.

And of course to show off how cute their kids were.

"Dadda!"

Johnny whirled around to see Regan standing underneath him, dressed in a light yellow sundress and a matching yellow headband that pushed her sleek ebony hair back. She tugged on his pant leg and he smiled. He quickly swept the little girl into his arms and she giggled.

"Oh… look at you! Don't you look pretty?" he said before pressing a kiss behind his daughter's ear.

"Yup!" Regan chirped.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Ready!" she squealed.

"Are you now?"

Johnny turned around to see Lulu, dressed in her matching lavender summer dress and with Ava in her arms. Johnny smiled as he took in the sight of his wife. He knew that he had the prettiest wife in all of Port Charles but it never hurt to be reminded once in a while.

"You look beautiful…" he murmured.

"Thank you… you look very handsome yourself…" she purred and he bent in and kissed her on the cheek.

"Not in front of the kids…" he whispered in her ear and she playfully hit him on the shoulder.

"Come on… we're going to be late and then Carly will kill me…" she said as she began walking downstairs towards the front door, toting a smiling Ava in her arms.

They strapped the twins into their car seats as they babbled to each other about nonsense. They arrived at the MetroCourt twenty minutes later, leaving their car with the valet. Ava and Regan immediately rushed through the double doors upon seeing Carly in the lobby as she was doing her last inspection before brunch started.

"CARLY!!!" the girls squealed in unison.

Johnny laughed at his daughter's enthusiasm and put his arm around his wife. They all walked into the elevator and went upstairs to the main ballroom. Like all of the events sponsored by Carly and Jax, it was impeccably put together and they spared no expense. There were flowers everywhere set on deep pink tablecloths and at each place setting was the hotel's best china. Most of the guests had already arrived. Michael and Morgan, dressed in nice blazers, were entertaining their four year old sister Amalie Jacks. Maxie Jones was wiping something from Gavin's face while talking to Robin. Nikolas and Claudia were talking with each other in the corner of the ballroom while Spencer and Nadia played with Emma and Molly. Elizabeth and Sam were chatting with each other, as they held their daughters, Madison and Reese, respectively, in their arms. Jason was on the terrace with Max while Alexis and Diane were watching Kristina, Cameron and Jake. Diane was holding her daughter, Miranda, on her hip while Alexis was trying to calm down a fussing Dominic.

"Lulu! Johnny! You're over here with us!" Maxie called, waving for them to come and sit with them.

"Happy Mother's Day…" Lulu said as she hugged Maxie.

"Happy Mother's Day to you too! Do you get double presents since you've got those two little ones?" Maxie asked as she looked on at Regan and Ava as they began playing with Gavin.

"Maybe when they start buying their own gifts… If I know Johnny, he's going to want to give them credit cards by the time they turn twelve… spoiling them rotten…" Lulu said, poking her husband on the shoulder.

"Hey… nothing's too good for my girls… all three of them…" he said before pressing a kiss to his wife's temple.

"Alright… everbody! We are going to take the kids upstairs for a little arts and craft project while the grown-ups have some grown-up time… it's my gift to all of you mothers… an hour and a half free from kid duty…" Jasper Jacks announced.

"Yes, grown-up time… so bring out the champagne for mimosas…" Maxie muttered and Lulu giggled.

Sure enough, the kids were all taken upstairs by a team of nannies for arts and crafts while the adults stayed in the ballroom, enjoying everything that the hotel had to offer. Johnny and Spinelli insisted on fixing their wives' plates because it was "their" day and of course Lulu and Maxie didn't stop them from treating them like princesses. Johnny just sat there and watched his wife chat happily with Maxie and Spinelli, smiling beautifully and filling the room with her infectious laughter. It was on days like this he was truly grateful that she had stayed through all of the drama and the ugliness that they had gone through. When he tried to push her away, she kept firm, determined to weather the storm with him.

He was so grateful that she had picked him.

He was shaken out of his daze by the return of all of the kids. They were talking excitedly and clutching little wrapped presents. Lulu smiled as Regan and Ava trotted back into the ballroom behind Gavin Spinelli.

"Now, we did something a little special… all of you ladies don't know this but we asked your husbands to bring a picture of your family and the kids have made Mother's Day presents…" Jax said into the microphone.

The children all dispersed to find their parents and both Regan and Ava stampeded back over towards the table with Gavin following close behind them.

"What's that? Is that for me?" Lulu asked, pointing to the silver wrapped packages in her daughters' hands, and Johnny smiled as he wrapped his arms around Lulu's shoulders.

The girls handed her their creations. Unwrapping the gifts, Lulu found hand-painted picture frames with glitter and sparkles made by her two and a half year old twin girls. Inside the picture frames were two pictures of her with each of them. It was the very first gift that they had ever made for her. Lulu felt Johnny's hand come up and wipe a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Come here, you guys…" Lulu squeaked, extending her arms out to her daughters.

They both hopped into their mother's lap and she held them tightly. She never thought that she would be a mother. She always thought that she lacked that maternal gene but she was so glad that she was wrong.

Because being a mom was the best thing she ever did.


	12. Misadventures in Babysitting

**A/N**: Since I'm out of school, I'm going to try to get as much done on this series as possible as well as start my next long series, which I still need to pick... anyway, I thought that this would be a funny one to write… I think that I'm obsessed with JoLu's kids in this series... I want them for my own lol :) Oh and I'm still trying to pick a boy's name for their son, who will be making his debut in about a few chapters... so if you have any suggestions... let me know!! Happy reading and don't forget to review!

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**Misadventures in Babysitting**

"Thank you, Kristina… are you sure I can't offer you a ride home?"

Kristina Corinthos-Davis shook her head wordlessly and headed out the door, still with bits of spaghetti stuck in her back length hair. Lulu pressed a finger to her temple and sighed heavily. At the rate that Regan and Ava were going through babysitters, she and Johnny wouldn't be able to have a nice night out until the girls entered high school. She turned around and headed into the living room. Johnny was standing in front of the couch with his arms folded and Regan and Ava were sitting on the couch, with pasta sauce all over their hands and faces.

"Now… will one of you like to explain to me why you thought it was ok to throw spaghetti at Kristina?" Johnny asked.

"But Daddy, she was being mean!" Ava cried.

"That doesn't make it ok, Ava!" Lulu said, raising her voice just loud enough to make her shirk back a little bit.

Johnny looked at Lulu, noticing her tone, and she shot him a glare right back. Johnny was the soft parent and the girls knew it. They had him wrapped around their fingers and of course he could never be mad at them, despite the fact that this was the third babysitter that the twins had chased off.

"And not only did you make a complete mess out of the kitchen with the spaghetti but you two locked her out on the patio for twenty minutes until she agreed to let you watch an extra hour of cartoons! God… you two are in a **heap** of trouble…" Lulu said.

"We're—We're s—s—sorry, Mommy…" Regan sniffed.

They were looking up at her with remorseful eyes and Lulu instantly felt the guilt rise in her veins. She didn't like to punish them but their behavior couldn't be excused. She and Johnny had gone soft on them with first babysitter when the girls threw a three hour temper tantrum, saying that it was just the first time that they had left them at home with someone who wasn't family. The girls got smarter with the second babysitter and hid in the attic for an hour until the babysitter called the police, thinking that the girls had been taken or had wandered off.

But this was the last straw.

"Now go upstairs and get ready to take your bath… I'll be upstairs in ten minutes…" Lulu said, pointing towards the stairs.

Sulking, the girls slid off the couch and headed upstairs. She flopped down onto the couch, sighing heavily, and Johnny put his arm around her.

"We're never going to be able to go out… ever. At least not for another eleven or twelve years… we're just going to be stuck in this damn house with the girls because they have managed to scare off every single babysitter in Port Charles…" Lulu groaned and he chuckled.

"You know why they're acting out, right?" Johnny asked.

"Because they're just like you… wild and rebellious…" she said, rolling her eyes, and he laughed again.

"No… because they don't want us to leave them at home…" he said.

She sighed heavily as that statement resonated in her mind. Regan and Ava weren't bad kids. In fact, most of the time, they were very well behaved. Of course since they were four years old, they had all of the energy in the world but they were remarkably well-mannered. However, as soon as they told the girls that they were leaving to go out for a few hours, all hell would break loose.

"I know…" she sighed.

"So what kind of punishment are we thinking about? No TV for a week?" he asked.

"No TV and no Nintendo for two weeks…" she said, settling into his arms and closing her eyes.

"Ouch…" he said.

"Too harsh?" she asked.

"No… it's fair… I was just thinking how upset they're going to be…" he chuckled.

Johnny was right. The girls were very upset that they had lost two weeks of TV and Nintendo privileges but Lulu told them that this was a learning exercise so that they would think about their actions the next time they wanted to torment another babysitter. After their bath, Regan and Ava went to bed, wiping the tears from their cheeks. They were used to being completely adored by their parents and having Johnny and Lulu scold them for their behavior shook them.

"You don't think I was being too hard on them, do you?" Lulu asked, looking at Johnny from across their bedroom.

Johnny pulled a gray t-shirt over his head and slid into bed next to her. He put his arm around her and drew her in as they lay underneath the covers. She could still smell the cologne that he wore on his skin that he put on before they left to go to dinner. Inhaling his sweet scent and feeling his fingers running through her golden tresses made her calm down a little bit.

"No… you were just setting boundaries… which is what you're supposed to do when you're a parent…" he said.

"I just—I don't want them to hate me…" she said, wrapping her arms around his torso, and he kissed the top of her head.

"Lulu… Ava and Regan could never hate you… you know… you told me that you always resented the fact that your parents didn't raise you themselves… your mom was sick for most of your childhood and your dad wasn't a constant presence either… but you're here and you're raising those two little girls… how could they ever hate you for doing right by them?" he asked.

She looked up at him and managed to smile a little bit. Of course he always knew the perfect thing to say when she was feeling overwhelmed. She felt Johnny shift in order to turn off the light on their nightstand when a soft knock came to the door.

"Yes?" Johnny asked.

The door opened slowly and Johnny immediately saw the top of Ava's blond head as she peered around the door, examining if it was safe to enter. Regan followed behind her, equally cautious, and Lulu tried to hide a smile.

"Mommy… Daddy… we're sorry for being mean to Kristina…" Ava said.

"We know…" Johnny said.

"Do you still love us?" Regan asked.

Johnny immediately got out of bed and picked them up, holding one in each arm. He turned back around to face Lulu and without even saying a word, she scooted over to make room for them in their bed. She smiled as Ava and Regan crawled in between the two of them, settling against the pillows.

"Of course we still love you… we're your parents… nothing is ever going to make us stop loving you two…" Johnny said.

"Really?" Ava asked.

"Really." Lulu said before planting a kiss on the tops of their heads.

The girls sniffed and wiped their eyes again, calming down from the hysterics that had happened earlier. Johnny reached over and turned out the light. Lulu looked over and saw that the girls had already fallen asleep and she smiled.

"I was just thinking…" Johnny whispered.

"About what?" Lulu asked.

"We should savor these moments…" he said and she chuckled.

"I know…" she sighed.

"Yeah… because when they become teenagers, they're not going to care what we think… or crawl into bed with us like this…" he laughed quietly.

At that moment, Regan, who was lying beside Lulu, turned over and snuggled into Lulu's side and she looked over and saw Ava in the same position next to Johnny.

"So true…" she whispered.


	13. Good Without You

**A/N:** I always wondered what the interaction between Johnny and Dillon would be like given Dillon's relationship with Lulu and the fact that they've never had any interaction on GH since Dillon left before Johnny came. So, I thought that this would be a funny scene to write… oh and don't forget to vote on my next series!! And I still need boy names for JoLu's son that's coming up in like 2-3 chapters… so get those in too!!! Happy reading!!

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**Good Without You**

He didn't like him.

Johnny folded his arms across his chest and stared at the man that was talking to his wife. His blond hair was shorter than what he expected. Lulu always said that he had crazy spiked hair but it was subdued now. It was still styled up but nothing over the top.

But it still looked stupid.

Lulu suddenly laughed at some joke that he had just told that probably wasn't even that funny to begin with and Johnny saw as he put his hand on his wife's knee as he laughed too. Johnny gritted his teeth and tried with all of his strength to slap his hand away.

He **really** didn't like him.

"Oh my god… I can't believe that you still remember that, Dillon!" Lulu laughed.

"Remember? How could I forget? Tracy put the two of us on house arrest for almost a month after that!" Dillon said.

Johnny rolled his eyes and slouched back into the couch. It was Lulu's birthday and he had planned a picnic in the park with the girls and then tonight, after the girls were deposited over Nikolas and Claudia's house for a sleepover with Nadia, Johnny was going to take Lulu out on a yacht that he had rented for the evening. However, his plans got derailed when Dillon Quartermaine, in all of his glory, showed up on their doorstep this morning to "surprise" Lulu for her birthday.

"I haven't thought about that night when we took Edward's boat on the water in so long…" she chuckled.

"We had a lot of fun that summer…" Dillon mused.

"Seven years ago…" Johnny muttered.

Lulu immediately shot him a look, attempting to make him straighten out his foul attitude, but he met her glare with one of his own. He was not about to play nice with Dillon Quartermaine. Everyone knew that he was coming off his third divorce to some no-name actress that was in one of his movies and the fact that he said that he was here to "surprise" Lulu for her birthday was a complete lie. Even if Lulu wouldn't admit it, he knew that Dillon was only here to try and see what could come of the two of them. She looked down at her watch and back up at Johnny.

"It's 11:20… you're going to be late picking up the girls from their dance class…" Lulu said.

"Right… so when I get back, we're headed to the park… the girls made and packed up everything last night so we're just going to go as soon as they change out of their ballet clothes…" Johnny said, standing up and taking his keys out of his pocket.

"Ballet? Your girls are in ballet classes? You said that when you had kids, you wouldn't put them in… what did you call it? Oh right… 'stupid girly stuff' like that…" Dillon laughed.

"Well… Regan asked to take ballet class because Reese Morgan just started taking them and then of course Ava wants to do everything that Regan does… hence, both of them are in dance class now…" Lulu said.

"Anyway, it was nice seeing you, Dillon…" Johnny said curtly, as he walked towards the door.

"Nice seeing you too, Johnny…" Dillon said, smirking.

Johnny left and as soon as the door closed behind him, Dillon began laughing and Lulu sighed heavily.

"I don't think he likes me very much…" Dillon laughed.

"Do you blame him? Wouldn't you be angry if your wife's ex was flirting with her right in front of you?" she asked as she picked up one of the twins' stuffed animals off the floor.

"Are you angry with me?" he asked.

"I think that all of that fame has gone to your head…" she chuckled.

He went silent after she made that joke. She turned around, wondering if she had actually hurt his feelings, but she found him staring at her in a peculiar fashion.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" she asked, running her fingers through her hair.

"No… you just seem… so different than the girl that I used to know… I mean, you're a mom and you're talking about ballet classes, piano lessons and volunteering at the twins' school… it's just a little weird…" he laughed and she smiled.

"I'm happy… for the first time in my life, I'm just really happy…" she said, sitting back down on the couch.

"Because of Johnny?" he asked.

"Because of Johnny and our family… and as much as I care about you, Dillon… I wouldn't trade them for anything else in the world…" she said, putting her hand on top of his.

"Ouch… nice job with the rejection… but it's ok… I'm not the homewrecking type…" he laughed.

"Sure you aren't…" she chuckled.

At that moment, the door opened and in came Ava and Regan, dressed in their pink tights, black leotards and pink ballet shoes. They immediately dropped their bags to the ground and ran to their mother.

"Mommy!!" they both cried.

Johnny chuckled as he took their bags off the floor. Lulu gave both of them a kiss on the forhead.

"How was class?" she asked.

"Good! Miss Wilson started teaching us a dance for the recital!" Regan chirped.

"Mommy, who's that?" Ava asked, pointing to Dillon.

"Oh… girls… this is Dillon… he's one of mommy's friends and he came all the way from Los Angeles to visit me for my birthday… isn't that nice?" Lulu asked.

Lulu looked down at her girls and saw the same skepticism in their eyes as Johnny did when Dillon showed up this morning. Regan immediately frowned and Johnny couldn't help but to snicker. These girls were truly their father's children.

"Hey, why don't you girls take your stuff upstairs and get ready to go? We still have our picnic…" Johnny said, immediately ushering both Regan and Ava upstairs.

"I'm sorry, Dillon… they're just a little bit shy…" Lulu apologized.

The girls returned from upstairs, Ava in her favorite summer dress and Regan in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to run around in. Ava immediately flocked to Lulu, staring at her mother as she talked to this stranger. Regan trotted over to Johnny as he stood a few feet away from them.

"Daddy?" Regan asked, quietly.

"Yes?" he asked, never taking his eyes off Dillon.

"Can I have a glass of juice?" she asked.

"Sure…" he muttered.

He went into the kitchen and poured Regan a glass of grape juice. He handed her the cup, distracted by the conversation that was going on between his wife and Dillon. Suddenly, he heard a big splashing noise.

"Regan!" Lulu cried.

Lulu's eyes were wide with horror and Ava's jaw had dropped. Regan was standing next to Dillon, holding her cup upside down and the grape juice that Johnny had poured was now all over Dillon's khaki pants. Johnny doubled over, howling with laughter, as he came to the realization of what had happened. Needless to say Lulu didn't exactly believe him when he told her that he never told Regan to dump her grape juice all over Dillon.

"Ok, so if you didn't tell her to do it… what made her throw the juice on Dillon?" she asked as she turned around to face him as they were standing on the deck of the yacht that he had rented.

"Karma…" Johnny chuckled.


	14. Season of Love

**A/N:** Once again, thank you guys for all of your awesome comments!! :) They really do make my day… so, musical inspiration (And title) for this chapter is "Season of Love" by Shiny Toy Guns… aka the song from the Gossip Girl season finale last night (which was **FABULOUS** btw…) I had this song on repeat as I wrote this scene… the song is so good and if you haven't heard it, you should definitely check it out :) So this one is kinda short but I didn't feel like it should've been super long anyway… Alright, enough of my rambling… happy reading! Oh and I'm still taking names for JoLu's son! So keep sending those in!!

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**Season of Love**

"Oh my god…"

Johnny laughed as he ran his fingers through Lulu's golden hair as she lay on top of him. Her heart was beating wildly against his skin and he kissed the top of her head. She kissed his chest before looking up at him. Her body may have been fatigued but her eyes said that she wanted more.

"So I see that you missed me…" he muttered and she chuckled.

Johnny had been away on business in Milan for a week, negotiating with the Zacchara family contacts about a new business venture in Italy.

"That has to be the biggest understatement ever…" she whispered.

"I know… you practically mauled me when I walked in the house…" he laughed.

It was true. She didn't think that she would miss him that much. After all, it was only a week. But that first night as she slept alone in their bed, all she could do was stare at the empty spot next to her. But as soon as the car pulled into their driveway, Lulu immediately ran downstairs to meet him. He barely got the door closed behind him when she leaped into his arms, covering him in the week's amount of kisses that he had missed. Lulu blushed and tried looked away but Johnny took her face in his hands and smiled.

"But I wouldn't have it any other way…" he said.

"Good thing that the girls are over Nikolas and Claudia's tonight… or else we wouldn't have gotten this time to spend together…" she said.

"Yeah… I'd almost forgotten that you're a screamer…" he muttered before pressing a kiss behind her earlobe and she gasped.

"You bring it out of me…" she purred as she felt herself being rolled onto her back.

He bent over and kissed her slowly. He wasn't going to take any more business trips anytime soon unless if it was a life or death situation because being away from this was unimaginable. Even though he knew that she was waiting for him back home, he had been without her before and it wasn't something that he cared to revisit ever again.

_He loved her too damn much._

He pulled away from her lips and just stared at her for a moment, taking the image of her lying beneath him in. Her hair was fanned out against their pillows and her brown eyes were sparkling from the dim lights. She is simply the embodiment of perfection in his eyes. He presses his lips to her neck and he can't help but to smile as her grip on his arms tightens.

"Lulu…" he whispered.

"Yes?" she mumbled.

"I want to have another baby…" he whispered and her eyes immediately shot open at his words.

Putting her hands on his shoulders, she pushed him off her and she sat up to face him.

"Are—Are you serious?" she asked.

"Why do you always assume that I'm joking?" he chuckled.

"Another baby?" she asked, still in disbelief that he wanted more children.

"Yes! But this time I'm hoping for a boy… three girls in the house puts me at a disadvantage… and besides, the twins are getting older and then that will be too much estrogen in this house just for me…" he laughed and she smiled and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Are you sure? I mean… are you **really** sure?"she asked.

He took her hands in his and kissed the inside of her palm. They could do this. After Ava and Regan, they could do anything. They had done such a good job on those girls, with the exception of their occasional mischievousness, that they could handle another kid.

_Besides, they had each other._

"I'm sure." Johnny said.

Lulu immediately pressed her lips to his as they fell back onto the bed. There wasn't a day where he didn't surprise her. She thought that she was going to be the one to bring up the possibility of having another child and she thought that she was going to do a hell of a lot of convincing. But he took her off guard once again and that's what made her love him even more every single day. She giggled softly as he began to pepper soft kisses on her neck. He rose back up, staring at her with a wicked glint in his eye.

"Wanna get started now?" he asked.

"Yes, please…" she breathed.


	15. Baby Blue

**A/N**: I'm so glad that you guys are enjoying this series… It definitely makes me want to write more and that's always a good thing… ok, this is officially the last call for voting on my next series because after tomorrow (May 21st) I'm going to start writing the first few chapters of the winning story. So, if you haven't voted yet, **DO IT NOW**!! :) I've tried posting the link to my section on the JoLu fanfiction archive but this website is being mean and won't post the entire thing so either find me over there (it's the same screen name) or send me a message for the link... Alright, happy reading!!

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**Baby Blue**

"Ok, Lulu… I'm going to need you to start pushing…" Dr. Kelly Lee said.

Lulu immediately grabbed Johnny's hand and Johnny smiled back at her. He had been waiting for this day since Lulu had taken four pregnancy tests that confirmed that after two months of trying, they were having another baby. She looked back at Kelly and nodded. Johnny helped her sit up in her bed, taking her other hand in his.

"Ok, Lu… ready?" he asked.

"Yeah…" she said, nodded.

"One… two… three… push…" he said and on his word, Lulu squeezed his hands and pushed as hard as she could.

"That was great, Lulu… again…" Kelly said, smiling up at Lulu.

Lulu clenched her jaw and pushed again, this time squeezing Johnny's hands a little tighter. This time, they were sure that this baby was a boy. Even though he had been hoping for a boy, he still wanted to be surprised. However, Lulu had found out that this baby was a boy and for Johnny's birthday, she surprised him with having the nursery painted baby blue.

_Needless to say, he got the point._

"Oh god! This hurts so much!" Lulu cried.

"I know… I know… just a few more pushes, right, Dr. Lee?" he asked, looking up at Kelly.

"Yes… just a few more pushes and your baby will be here…" Kelly said.

"Easy for you to say… you're not the one pushing!" Lulu yelled.

"Ok… push, Lulu…" Kelly said.

Lulu tightened her grip on Johnny's hands and pushed harder. Of course with the twins, the labor had been more painful but she didn't want any drugs so she still felt every push. She collapsed back onto the bed and then felt Johnny press a cool washcloth to her forehead. This would all be worth it in five minutes. All she had to do was to just push for five more minutes and then they would have the son that they both wanted.

_Then their family would be complete._

"You're doing great, Lulu... just one more push…" Kelly said.

Johnny helped her sit up and she pushed with all of the strength that she had. She felt a smile curve across her lips when she heard her son's cry. Full of pride, Johnny immediately pressed his lips to hers. He cut the umbilical cord and the nurse took their son and cleaned him up.

"Congratulations…" Kelly said, putting her hand on Lulu's shoulder.

"Thank you…" Lulu sighed.

"I'm going to go out into the waiting room to tell everyone how great you did… do you want me to send anyone specific in?" Kelly asked.

"The girls…" Johnny and Lulu both said in unison.

Kelly nodded and headed out the door. The nurse came back with their baby, snuggled in a powder blue blanket, and handed him to Johnny. The baby whimpered slightly as he was shifted between the nurse and Johnny but he went straight into his father mode and calmed the baby down.

"He looks just like you…" Lulu said.

"Which means he'll be ridiculously attractive and have all of the girls in this town after him…" Johnny laughed.

"He still needs a name…" Lulu said, running his fingertips over her son's patch of dark hair.

"Christian… Christian Lorenzo Zacchara…" he said softly.

"Christian?" she asked.

"Yeah… that was one of your names, right?" he asked, looking back up at her.

"Yes, it was… but you don't want him to have your name?" she asked but he shook his head.

"He should have his own name because he's his own person… I want him to be his own person…" he said and she looked back up at him and smiled.

"With you as his father, he will…" she whispered before she kissed him on the cheek.

He smiled back at her and Lulu took the baby in her arms. He could look at her all day like this. Of course she would say that she looked horrible after being in labor for hours but she still looked as beautiful as ever to him. Suddenly, there was a soft knock at the door and both Johnny and Lulu looked up to see Regan and Ava standing in the doorway.

"Hey you two! Come here and meet your little brother…" he said, beckoning the girls towards them.

Regan and Ava happily skipped over to their mother's bedside and peered at the baby. They both smiled at their baby brother and Johnny wrapped his arms around the two of them. They were both surprised how their seven year olds embraced the idea of having a younger sibling. They couldn't wait to be big sisters and knowing them, they would be very overprotective of their little brother.

"What's his name?" Ava asked.

"His name is Christian Lorenzo Zacchara…" Lulu said, gently rocking him back and forth.

"I like it…" Regan said.

"I'm glad that you do…" Johnny chuckled.

Carly and Maxie joined them next and the girls made sure that they were the first to tell them the baby's name. Luke tried to hide his satisfaction when he heard that they had given the baby Lorenzo as his middle name but Laura called him out on it. Lucky promised Christian trips to Manhattan to see the Knicks play while Nikolas tried to outdo his brother by promising polo and fencing lessons, which made Claudia roll her eyes.

"I can't believe that you have both Spencer and Nadia in those classes wielding swords… John, don't let Nikolas talk you into fencing lessons… he's got Spencer and Nadia running around with their foils, thinking that they're a part of the three musketeers… I can't even tell you the amount of stuff they've broken because of it…" Claudia said.

"They need a third musketeer! Christian can be the third!" Nikolas said.

"We'll see…" Lulu chuckled.

"So do you think in a few years, you're going to try and roll the dice again and see if you have another boy… to make things even in the house?" Maxie asked but Lulu shook her head.

"Three's a good number…" Lulu laughed.

"Aw, no more kids?" Johnny joked.

"Oh we can have all the kids that you want… when **you** figure out a way to carry a baby for nine months and then endure hours of labor, then we'll talk more kids…" Lulu said, putting a hand on his leg.

"Right… three's a **great** number…" Johnny said.


	16. Chicken Soup

**A/N**: So I know what you must be thinking… "FINALLY!!! SHE UPDATES!!!" :) Yes, I've been lacking in inspiration but I think I finally kicked my bout of JoLu writer's block and got some inspiration to continue on with this series! So, thank you guys for sticking with me! I really appreciate it… oh, and as a side note… I totally saw Tamara Braun a few weeks ago at the mall shopping and she's sooooo pretty in real life and then I saw Jane Elliot at the movie theaters on Father's Day! I love living in Los Angeles… it's so much fun to see celebrities… ok so happy reading and thanks again for putting up with me!

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**Chicken Soup**

"What's her temperature?"

Johnny plucked the thermometer from Regan's lips and she groaned and curled up underneath her purple comforter. Lulu put her hand on Regan's forehead and immediately frowned. She definitely had a fever because she was burning up.

"It's 101… damn it…" Johnny muttered.

"Language!" Lulu hissed.

"Sorry… it's 101… and Ava's was 100.6…" Johnny said, looking over at Ava, who was equally miserable.

The girls had come home from their day camp, complaining of headaches and sore throats. Lulu, immediately springing into her mothering instincts, sent them both upstairs to change into their pajamas and into bed. Johnny, thinking that this was one of their tricks to get out of going to summer camp, didn't think much of it because according to him, no one got sick over the summer.

"Oh girls… I'm so sorry…" Lulu said, trying to be as soothing as she could be.

"I know that you're probably not hungry but you two have to eat something… so, why don't I go down to Kelly's and get you some chicken soup? How about that?" Johnny asked but both Regan and Ava shook their heads.

"It'll make your throats feel so much better… I promise…" Lulu said and they finally relented.

Lulu gave both of the girls a kiss on their foreheads and followed Johnny out of their bedroom. She peeked into Christian's bedroom to check on their sleeping toddler. He seemed to be doing fine and had no symptoms of having a cold. He had been upset earlier because he wasn't allowed to go into the twin's bedroom because they were sick and he had been grouchy for the remainder of the evening.

"Christian seems to be alright…" Lulu said as she closed the door to the nursery.

"Yeah… because having three sick kids would definitely be worse than having two…" Johnny said, putting his hand on his forehead.

"I want you to take some vitamin C, Johnny…" she said, pointing a finger at his chest, and he immediately rolled his eyes.

"Lulu… I don't get sick… especially not in the middle of June…" he scoffed, sounding almost insulted that she would even think that he would get sick.

"You're going to get sick…" she said, warningly.

"No, I won't." Johnny insisted.

"Fine… just don't whine or cry to me when you're sporting a high fever… and **don't** expect me to take care of you either…" Lulu said, folding her arms across her chest.

Johnny turned on his heel and went downstairs, presumably to get into his car and head into Port Charles to fetch chicken soup from Kelly's. She shook her head and headed into their cabinet to take her vitamins. She wasn't going to take any chances with getting sick because she wanted to have her full strength to take care of the girls and possibly Christian if he caught the bug that the girls had. There was no way that she was going to not have all of her strength.

"Are you alright?" she asked when Johnny had come back from Kelly's thirty minutes later.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, holding two bowls filled to the brim with chicken soup.

Her brow folded into a questioning position. His forehead was peppered with beads of sweat and his eyes were starting to look weary. He then sniffled slightly and Lulu immediately groaned and pressed her fingertips to her temple and sighed heavily.

"Of course…" she mumbled under her breath.

Just as she predicted, three days later when Regan and Ava were back at full strength, wrecking havoc all over the house and playing with Christian, Johnny was curled up in bed, with chills, a nasty cough, and a runny nose, in the middle of summer.

"Don't say I told you so…" Johnny groaned miserably as Lulu dabbed a cool washcloth on his face.

She rolled her eyes as he lay his head in her lap on their enormous king sized bed. Johnny, of course, never liked to be told that he was wrong. He was just as stubborn as she was… maybe even more. His eyes were shut and she gently stroked his hair as he suffered through his cold.

"Do you want me to stop taking care of you?" she asked matter-of-factly.

"No…" he whimpered, shivering underneath the covers.

"Then I get to say it…" she said, smirking.

"Fine…" he relented.

"I. Told. You. So." She said, enunciating every single word.

He groaned and she pressed a kiss to his forehead, smiling triumphantly.


	17. School Daze

**A/N**: Ok, I finally figured out that I just need to just sit down and write and then the chapters will come :) I had another chapter in mind for this next installment but I changed my mind when I realized that Christian hasn't been the main focus of a chapter yet so our littlest Zacchara deserves some love! With that being said, happy reading and don't forget to leave a comment!

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**School Daze**

"Lunch box?"

Christian held up his brand new bright red Transformers lunch box proudly and Johnny smiled down at his four year old son. It was the dreaded first week of September for all Port Charles kids because it meant the first week of school. Regan and Ava were dragging their feet upstairs getting ready for their first day of the 5th grade while Christian was almost giddy with anticipation for his first day of kindergarten.

"Backpack?" Johnny asked.

Christian held up his matching red backpack happily. Johnny had taken him back to school shopping almost a month ago because Christian wanted to have first dibs on all of the new school supplies, backpacks and lunch boxes.

_And also Lulu was having a little bit of trouble dealing with the fact that her little boy was growing up so fast._

Johnny knelt down to his son's level and ruffled up his dark brown hair. He had picked out a new pair of jeans, a crisp blue polo shirt and the pair of white and blue Pumas that Lulu had bought him a few days ago.

"Ready for school?"

Both Christian and Johnny looked up and saw Lulu standing in the doorway of their kitchen and Johnny couldn't help but to snicker. He could always tell when Lulu was trying hard not to be emotional and it was as clear as day that Lulu had been crying. He stood up and walked over to give his wife a kiss on the forehead.

"Yes!" Christian chirped and both Johnny and Lulu laughed.

"Well… I saw your binder upstairs on your bed… so you should go run upstairs and get it before we leave…" Lulu said. A look of shock appeared on Christian's face and he quickly raced upstairs to get his binder.

"And tell your sisters to hurry up! We're leaving in fifteen minutes!" Johnny called out to him.

Lulu exhaled and put her head on Johnny's shoulder and he chuckled softly. He knew that she was on the verge of losing it and it was immensely amusing to him. He put his arm around her and squeezed her affectionately and she scoffed.

"You're loving this, aren't you?" she asked.

"Loving what?" he asked, feigning innocence, and she poked him on his chest.

"I hate you sometimes…" she grumbled.

"You love me… _always_…" he said, smirking.

She rolled her eyes, wanting to slap that smug smirk off her husband's face. She crossed her arms across her chest and huffed. She didn't like the fact that her kids were getting older. The girls had their own friends now and according to Christian, he wasn't "a baby" anymore.

"When did they get so big?" she asked and Johnny laughed beside her.

"It's what happens, Lulu… you have kids and they get older… soon we're going to be dropping them off at college…" he said and she groaned.

"I don't like it…" she said, shaking her head.

"Did you think that they would stay toddlers forever?" he laughed as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Of course not…" she muttered.

Johnny started to say something but their brood came stampeding into the kitchen, ready to go. Both Ava and Regan had their backpacks, pink and purple respectively, and Ava had her pink Addidas duffel bag for gymnastics practice after school while Regan had her purple dance bag for ballet class.

"Ready?" Lulu asked.

"Yeah!" Christian cried and his older sisters groaned.

"Why can't you guys be more enthusiastic like your brother?" Johnny laughed, giving his daughters a kiss on their foreheads.

"Dad, there's nothing exciting about the first day of school…" Ava said, curling a piece of her golden locks around her ear.

"Of course there is! You get to see all of your friends again and meet your new teachers…" Johnny said.

"It's a small town… you can walk to anyone's house…" Regan said.

"Such cynics…" Johnny laughed.

"Let's go!" Christian said, almost running out the door.

The entire Zacchara clan piled into Lulu's Mercedes SUV, the only car that would fit the entire family comfortably because Lulu flat out refused to drive a minivan, with Johnny behind the wheel. They pulled up to the front of the school and Ava and Regan immediately jumped out of the car and headed towards their classroom.

"Alright, buddy… do you want us to walk you in?" Johnny asked, turning around to face his son.

Christian was looking straight out of the open door, eyes wide from wonder and terror at the same time. He shook his head wordlessly and scooted out of the car, shutting the door behind him. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and started walking slowly. Johnny put the car into park and turned off the ignition.

"Unbuckle your seat belt…" Johnny said.

"What?" Lulu asked.

"You're going to want to unbuckle your seat belt because when Christian runs back to the car, you're going to forget that you have one on and try to jump out of this car…" he said, smiling.

She looked back at her husband and rolled her eyes. Suddenly, Christian turned back around and started running back to the car. Lulu immediately unbuckled her seat belt and ran out of the car, catching her son as he essentially leapt into her arms.

"I don't want to go!" Christian sobbed.

"Sweetie…" she whispered, rubbing his back softly.

"Don't make me go!" he cried.

"Chris… you've been looking forward to this for over a month…" she said, wiping the tears from her son's eyes.

"No…" he said, shaking his head, and Lulu sighed.

"Ok… how about I walk you in? Will that make you feel better?" she asked and he sniffled and nodded his head.

Christian took his mother's hand and they began walking towards his classroom. Lulu returned to the car twenty minutes later, sighing as she slid into the passenger seat. Johnny smiled and started up the car. They drove in virtual silence until he pulled back into their driveway.

"What are we going to do when they're all grown up and leave?" she asked, turning to her husband of twelve years.

He took her hand in his, running his thumb over the top of her hand and then over her engagement ring. After all of these years, it amazed him how a small part of her still didn't believe that he was in this for the long haul. He shook his head, smiled and kissed her hand softly.

"We'll have each other…" he whispered.


	18. Too Shy

**A/N:** I couldn't wait to write this chapter :) I think I had a little bit too much fun writing this one… enjoy!! And thanks for all of your great comments! Keep 'em coming!!! :D

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**Too Shy**

"Trick or treat!"

Maxie Jones appeared at her front door, completely decked out in an elaborate witch costume, and took in the entire Zacchara clan as they stood on her front porch.

"Spinelli! Gavin! Come here quick! Look at who's at our front door!" Maxie cried, barely able to contain her laughter.

Carly and Jax, like always, were hosting their annual Halloween ball at the MetroCourt and everyone took the costume contest very seriously. This year, Johnny and Lulu had decided to go against every instinct that they had and went down the cheesy costume route. Spinelli and Gavin came to the door and Spinelli immediately burst out laughing.

"The original blond one and the mob prince's coordinating costumes most… _amusing_." Spinelli choked out.

"That is so perfect that you two decided to dress up as Danny and Sandy from Grease… how come we didn't think of that?" Maxie asked, turning to her husband.

Lulu's hair was teased and styled just like Olivia Newton-John's at the end of the film and she had on the black skin tight leggings with the matching cut off black top and on her lips was the ruby red lipstick that she only wore when she wanted to slowly drive Johnny out of his mind. Johnny had on a pair of black jeans and a black shirt with a black leather T-Birds jacket that he probably rented from a costume store. His hair was gelled neatly like he had just walked off the set of the movie. Christian was the spitting image of Johnny, complete with his own miniature T-Birds jacket, and both Ava and Regan followed their mother's costume with form fitting pants but with Pink Ladies jackets and oversized sunglasses.

"Why don't you guys come on in? We were just about to head on over to the MetroCourt in about fifteen minutes after the rest of the trick-or-treaters passed through…" Maxie said, ushering them all inside.

"Gavin, did you say hi to Ava and Regan?" Spinelli asked, putting a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Hi…" Gavin mumbled.

Maxie and Lulu both raised a skeptical eyebrow at Gavin's seemingly lack of enthusiasm. The two mothers looked on as Gavin stared at Ava and Regan as they began chatting away. Ava noticed Gavin staring at the two of them first and looked at Gavin out of the corner of her eye but when Regan turned her head to see what her sister was looking at, Gavin's face immediately turned bright red and he immediately ran upstairs to his room.

"What just happened? Gavin sprinted out of here so fast that he left a vapor trail…" Johnny chuckled and both Lulu and Maxie started laughing.

"It seems that Gavin has a little crush…" Lulu chuckled as Maxie poured her a glass of wine.

"On who?" Johnny asked and both Lulu and Maxie rolled their eyes.

"On Regan, of course!" Maxie cried.

Johnny whirled around on his two daughters and Regan immediately blanched underneath her father's shocked stare. Lulu snickered as Spinelli went to the front door to hand out candy to some straggling trick-or-treaters. Johnny always flipped out when anyone just so much as mentioned the girls starting to date. Of course they were only twelve and even Lulu agreed that they were too young to start "dating" but they were old enough to have eyes and to have an interest.

"Oh Lulu, if Regan and Gavie got married… we would be in-laws!" Maxie cried excitedly, clutching her friend's arm, and Lulu immediately choked on her wine.

"In—In-Laws?" Lulu stammered.

"Yes! Oh! And you'd have to let me plan the wedding! Federico could do the gown! Well… assuming that he's still at the top… or we could do something a little bit more traditional… Vera Wang always does nice classical pieces…" Maxie started.

"Maxie! Regan isn't marrying Gavin or anyone for that matter any time soon… so stop trying to plan out their wedding!" Johnny shouted.

Lulu snickered at her husband's overprotective outburst and looked over at her girls. Ava looked almost furious at all of the commotion that was going on about Gavin and Regan and poor Regan was as red as a beet from embarrassment. Luckily for her, Spinelli returned from the door and having used the last of the candy that they had purchased, they all decided to head out to the Halloween Ball.

"Mommy, what's a crush?" Christian asked and Regan immediately pinched her little brother's arm, wanting the entire situation to be forgotten.

"Shut up!" Regan hissed as Christian yelped in pain.

"Hey! Don't pinch, Christian!" Lulu scolded and Regan huffed.

"A crush is when you really like somebody… like how daddy likes mommy…" Ava explained, still with her arms folded as they rode in the car towards the MetroCourt.

"So was Aunt Maxie right and Regan and Gavin are going to get married?" Christian asked.

"No!" Regan and Johnny exclaimed emphatically.

At the Halloween ball, Johnny and Lulu watched as a very nervous Gavin Spinelli made his way over to Regan and asked her to dance, most likely at the behest of Maxie and Ava glowered from the corner of the room at her sister. Johnny's watchful eyes never left Gavin and Lulu knew that he was about thirty seconds away from jumping out of his chair, throwing Regan over his shoulder and locking her up in her room until she and Ava turned eighteen. Lulu smiled slightly and put her hand on his and he immediately looked over at her.

"It's ok… they're just dancing…" Lulu said, attempting to ease her husband's mind.

"Aren't you worried?" he asked and she just laughed.

"They're only thirteen, Johnny… what's going to happen? And besides, it looks like Regan isn't even remotely interested in Gavin in that way…" she said, pointing in their direction.

"Still, I don't like the way he's looking at her…" he grumbled.

"He has a crush, Johnny… I doubt that his mind is even going down the route that _yours_ is…" she chuckled.

The song ended and Regan politely thanked Gavin for the dance before he rushed back to where his parents were chatting with Robin and Patrick Drake. Johnny and Lulu watched as Reese Morgan and Nadia Cassadine, Regan and Ava's best friends respectively, went up to their daughters and began to chat wildly about Regan dancing with Gavin.

"I'm thinking that we should put the girls into Chapman for high school…" Johnny said suddenly.

"Shipping them off to an all girls boarding school isn't going to keep them from being interested in boys… if your father had sent you off to an all boys school, would you have stopped chasing girls?" she asked.

"Firstly, I never chased girls…" Johnny started and she snorted.

"Of course… _they_ chased you…" she muttered.

"And secondly, they're only twelve! Boys shouldn't even be on their radar right now!" he cried and Lulu just laughed.

"Johnny, when did you have your first kiss?" she asked.

"When I was thirteen… why?" he asked.

Lulu pursed her lips, hiding a small smirk, and shook her head. It was cute to see Johnny get overprotective of the girls. Fatherly concern looked good on him. She pressed her lips to his cheek, leaving a ruby red lip print on his face.

"The girls will be thirteen in January…" she whispered.

Lulu couldn't help but to smile as all of the color drained from her husband's face.


	19. I Want You

**A/N**: Musical inspiration for this chapter is "I Want You" by Savage Garden, which is literally one of my favorite songs ever… I find that having a song set the mood for each chapter makes writing so much easier… especially when the song is fun ;) Thanks for all of your great comments too! I'm glad that you enjoy reading these snippets as much as I enjoy writing them!! So I'm off to Vegas for my aunt's wedding this weekend so there won't be another update for a few days… so have a fabulous weekend!!!

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**I Want You**

Johnny groaned and slammed the phone receiver down on the cradle. His staff was so incompetent sometimes. He looked down at his watch and pressed his fingertips to his temple. It was only 1:20 and he was thinking about just going home for the day because he was so frustrated. Apparently, the shipment that he had been coordinating for almost a month was going to be two weeks behind schedule due to some stupid people on his payroll. He closed his eyes and shook his head, silently thanking god that it was Friday and he wouldn't have to deal with these people again until Monday. He picked up the phone that he just slammed and pressed the intercom button.

"Yes, boss?" Tony, a nervous Zacchara employee, asked.

"Hold all of my calls and I'm not seeing anyone today…" Johnny sighed.

"Yes, sir…" Tony said before hanging up.

Johnny leaned back into his chair and sighed, looking over at the small jewelry box that was sitting on his desk. A small smile crept across his face as he took the slim box in his hand. Today was his and Lulu's 15th wedding anniversary. He knew that more than half of the people that were present at that wedding thought that he and Lulu didn't stand a chance.

_And he was glad that they had proved everyone wrong._

He popped open the box, revealing a stunning diamond necklace, and he smirked. He knew that Lulu wasn't into material things or gifts but even she would have to admit that he did well. He snapped the jewelry box closed and at the same time, the door to his office opened. Apparently, his incompetent staff didn't understand that when he said that he didn't want to see anybody, he actually didn't want to see anybody.

"I told you that I don't want to see any—" he started but his yell died on his lips.

Lulu was standing before him, completely decked out from head to toe. Her hair was in wild curls, like she had just walked out of a salon or a runway. She was wearing a curve-hugging black wrap dress and with fire engine red five inch pumps. Her eyes were smoky and her lips were as red as her shoes. There was a wicked glint in her eye as she put her hand on one of her popped hips. She looked like she had just walked straight out of one his of his fantasies.

"So, a little birdie told me that my husband of fifteen years has had a rough day at work…" she said, twisting a tendril of her blond hair around her fingers as she sauntered towards his desk.

"Maybe…" he managed to squeak out.

She walked around the desk and Johnny couldn't take his eyes off her. Even after all of these years, she was still the most alluring woman that he had ever known. She scooted onto his desk, directly in front of him and crossed her legs. She put her hands on his shoulders and leaned in towards him, immediately sending his pulse racing.

"Perhaps I can do something to make it better?" she whispered as her hands slid up his neck and cradled his face in her fingertips.

"Yes…" he breathed.

She slid off the desk and onto her feet. Her hands went to the tie at her waist and she untied her dress, letting it drop to the floor. His eyes widened at the new red lacy ensemble that she had on underneath. She bit her bottom lip, hiding a devious smile, and he suddenly had forgotten how to breathe because she literally is the sexiest thing that he's ever seen.

_Even after fifteen years of marriage._

He immediately stood up, shoving his chair back, and sat her on his desk, holding one of her perfect thighs in each of his hands. She eagerly responded by wrapping her legs around his waist and nipped his ear. A low groan passed over his lips and he quickly pushed everything that was on top of his desk to the floor. Paperwork be damned because there was no way in hell that he would pass up anything that Lulu was offering. They both moved quickly, practically tearing at each other's clothes, and Johnny thanked god that his rather incompetent staff did heed his warning not to let anyone in.

_But perhaps the yelling behind the closed doors would've given them the hint._

She threw her arms around his neck and cried out his name, in that way that made his eyes roll into the back of his head and made him want to throw her down on that desk and have his way with her again. She buried her face into the crook of his neck and he gently began peppering kisses along her shoulder as he struggled to regain control of his breathing.

"Feeling better?" she asked and he chuckled.

"Much…" he sighed and she smiled.

"You think that we'll still have great sex when we're celebrating our thirtieth anniversary?" she asked.

"As long as you keep wearing stuff like this…" he laughed as he picked up the remains of her lingerie.

"I don't think we'll have a problem with keeping things interesting…" she said.

"Yeah… but also, you should wear more stuff like this…" he said, handing her the jewelry box that miraculously didn't end up on the floor with the rest of his stuff.

Johnny couldn't help but to smile as Lulu's jaw dropped at the sight of the necklace. She practically squealed in delight and immediately took it out of the box and put it around her neck. He put his hands on her hips and she pressed her lips to his.

"Happy anniversary, Mrs. Zacchara…" he murmured.

"Happy anniversary, Mr. Zacchara…" she whispered.


	20. Show Them What You've Got

**A/N: **I think that this chapter is all over the place but so is family life and besides, I had four hours in the car on the way back from Vegas to kill and therefore, I had time to make this chapter super long :) And as a side note, I'm convinced that some of you are psychic because you guys totally called out stuff that's going to happen… I won't say what but it should be pretty obvious :D So, happy reading and keep up with your wonderful comments! I love reading them!!

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**Show Them What You've Got**

Lulu looked up from her book as the front door opened and she smiled as her eight-year old son walked through the door. She immediately set aside her book and her reading glasses and extended her arms out to Christian. He immediately went to his mother, tossing his backpack to the floor, and curled up with his mom on the couch.

"What's wrong, Christian?" she asked.

"I don't want to go to school anymore…" he said.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Just because…" he mumbled.

Her fingers raked through his dark brown hair and she sighed. Christian hadn't been enjoying school that much lately. That spirited little boy that she had known for all of his years had been fading recently and it was starting to bother her.

"Come on, you can tell me… are the kids in your class nice?" she asked and Christian shook his head.

"No… they—they tease me…" he sniffled.

"About what?" Lulu asked, wondering who would ever tease her perfect little boy.

"Daddy… they say that he's a bad person who hurts people…" he said softly.

She kissed the top of his head and sighed. Of course it wasn't easy being connected to Johnny Zacchara. Ava and Regan went through some of the same things with the kids at school when they younger and Lulu had endured her fair share of Port Charles gossip because she had married him.

"Well, what do you think? Do you think that daddy is a bad person?" she asked.

"No!" Christian cried, sounding almost insulted that she asked that question, and Lulu smiled.

"Well then, who cares what they think then? You know that your daddy loves you so much and would do anything for you… so as long as you remember that, nothing else matters, right?" she asked.

"I guess…" he sighed.

"Alright… I think that it's time for you to go upstairs and start your homework before you have to go to soccer practice…" she said, gently touching his nose with her index finger.

He groaned but obliged his mother and picked up his backpack. She chuckled to herself as she heard him rush upstairs. She slid off the couch and went into the kitchen to see what she could rummage up for dinner. Johnny had called earlier, saying that he would be home a little bit later because he had to go inspect some additional warehouses that he and Claudia were thinking about buying. Regan had dance class almost every day after school and Ava was probably on her way home from cheerleading practice. She closed the fridge and opted to order Chinese food, Christian's favorite.

"Mom! I'm home!" Ava said, closing the front door behind her.

"In the kitchen, sweetheart!" Lulu called back.

Ava skipped into the kitchen and plopped down into a nearby chair. Lulu couldn't help but to laugh to herself whenever she saw Ava with her cheer ribbons in her hair. She never expected to have a daughter who would be into cheerleading but then again, she never thought that she'd have kids anyway.

"How did you get here so fast? You didn't walk home?" Lulu asked.

"Gavin just got his license and he happened to be staying late to work on some science project and he offered to give me a lift home after practice…" Ava shrugged and Lulu raised an eyebrow, knowing how much Ava liked Gavin, it was probably a bigger deal than she was making out to be.

"Well that was nice of him…" Lulu said as she took out a bowl of grapes and set them between her and Ava.

"Whatever… I'm pretty sure that he would've _jumped_ at the chance to take Regan to dance class or pick her up if Jake wasn't already taking her and Reese…" Ava muttered.

"You're never going to let this thing about Regan and Gavin go, aren't you?" Lulu chuckled.

"What's for dinner?" Ava asked, quickly changing the subject.

Lulu started to answer Ava's question but at that moment, the front door opened again and Johnny's and Regan's voices began echoing throughout the house. From the tone of their voices, Johnny and Regan didn't seem to be very happy with each other.

"It's not a big deal, daddy!" Regan cried.

"It is a big deal when I see my fifteen year old daughter on the back of some guy's motorcycle!" Johnny shouted and Regan sighed.

"Dad, first of all… he's not just some guy, it was Jake Morgan and he always brings me home after dance class… and secondly, he didn't have to take me home… Reese wasn't even in class today because she hurt her ankle last week but he came to pick me up because he didn't want me to walk home by myself…" Regan explained.

"Jake Morgan is too old for you…" he said and Regan immediately rolled her eyes.

"I'm not dating Jake Morgan… he's almost nineteen and besides, he's dating Emma Scorpio-Drake…" Regan said.

"Like that would ever stop you…" Ava snickered.

Regan flashed her sister a cold glare and Johnny's face turned bright red. The argument between Johnny and Regan lasted for most of the evening and even spilled out into the dinner conversation, causing Regan asking to be excused early from the table and not coming downstairs for the rest of the night.

"You can't jump down the girls' throats every time they show an interest in boys…" Lulu said, as she slipped underneath the covers of their bed.

"I know but there's no way that I'm allowing my daughter to go out with Jake Morgan… he's way too old for her…" Johnny said and Lulu just chuckled.

"He's the older brother of her best friend… I'm pretty sure that Jake doesn't see Regan as anything more as a little sister… no matter how much she wants him to…" she said.

Johnny sighed heavily and joined his wife, putting his arm around her and holding her close. She knew that he was having trouble with dealing with the girls getting older. Of course Johnny would never admit it aloud, but he didn't like the fact that sooner rather than later, he wouldn't be the only man in his little girls' hearts.

"Why was Christian so quiet at dinner?" Johnny asked.

"He's being teased at school…" she sighed.

"About what I do for a living?" he asked, grimacing.

"Yeah…" she said sadly and he shook his head.

"Damn it…" he said, pressing his fingertips to his temple.

"Hey… Christian loves you… worships the ground that you walk on even… and nothing is ever going to change that… not what you do for a living or anything else…" she said, holding his face in her hands.

"I know… but I don't want what I do to touch our kids… I don't want them to suffer because of anything that I do…" he said, clutching one of her hands in his own.

"Well… I think that the problem exists in the fact that we all know that you're the best dad that Christian could ever ask for but those kids in his class don't…" she said.

"What do you suggest then?" he asked.

"I think that you need to show all of those kids why it's good to be Christian Zacchara…" Lulu said, smiling.

Heeding his wife's advice, Johnny showed up at Christian's school at three o'clock to pick him up, in the limousine that he rarely used. He could feel everyone's eyes on him but he didn't care. There were only two that he cared about and when Christian saw him leaning against the car, waiting for him, his entire face lit up and he broke out into a sprint towards his father.

"What are you doing here?" Christian asked.

"I need a reason to pick up my son from school?" Johnny asked, feigning shock.

"No…" Christian laughed.

"Alright… and if you promise not to tell your mother, I'll take you for ice cream…" Johnny said.

"Yes!" Christian cried.

Johnny laughed and opened the car door and Christian climbed in. Johnny told the driver to drive to the nearest ice cream place and at that moment, Christian rolled down the window of the limo and stuck his tongue out at every single person that was waiting for the school buses to arrive.


	21. A Boy Like That

**A/N:** Thank you guys for your awesome comments! They really make my day… so this one is kind of long… but I like how it turned out. I wanted to show the mother and daughter bond that's between Lulu and her girls… because we've seen Lulu with Christian, Johnny with Christian and Johnny with the girls… so we need some girl power! :) So keep the comments coming! I love reading them!!

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**A Boy Like That**

It was official.

"I hate you!"

World War Three had erupted at the Zacchara house.

"I hate you too!"

And it was over a boy.

"You are **such** a bitch, Regan!" Ava screamed.

Regan's face turned scarlet at her sister's harsh words and Lulu saw her fist clench, almost waiting for the right moment to strike her across the face. Christian snickered to himself in the corner as he continued playing video games. Lulu immediately turned around to face her bickering daughters and her eyes narrowed.

"Language, Ava!" Lulu hissed.

"It's not fair! You don't like him! You don't even want him!" Ava cried.

"It was just one date, Ava! He asked me to go to a movie and I said yes! That's it! It's nothing serious!" Regan shrieked.

"Gavin has been in love with you since we were twelve, Regan! Of course it's serious!" Ava cried.

Apparently, Ava was slightly upset that Gavin had taken Regan on a "date" to the movies that night. Regan had barely gotten through the front door when Ava began her tirade on how much of a horrible sister she was to accept an invitation from the guy that she liked.

"You know that nothing is going on between Gavin and I. We're just friends, Ava… I would never do anything like that to you!" Regan said, imploring her sister to believe her.

"Oh lighten up, Ava… everybody who has eyes can see that Regan's got the hots for Jake Morgan anyway…" Christian sneered and Regan immediately picked up a nearby pillow and launched it at her younger brother.

"No one's talking to you!" Both Ava and Regan shouted.

"Enough!" Lulu screamed.

All three Zacchara children went silent upon hearing their mother's irritated outburst. She usually let Regan and Ava argue, just because that's what sisters did. But enough was enough. She had a massive headache and her screaming sixteen year olds were **not** helping. Lulu set down her book and rose to her feet. At that moment, Johnny walked in through the front door, home from work, and entered the living room.

"What's going on?" Johnny asked, clearly feeling the tension in the room.

"You two… upstairs… now." Lulu said, pointing to her twins and then towards the staircase.

"Ooh you guys are in trouble…" Christian snickered but Lulu rounded on him.

"One more smart remark and video game privileges will be taken away for two weeks…" Lulu said and Christian immediately went silent.

Regan and Ava sulked upstairs and Christian turned back around to play his video games without making a peep. Lulu sighed heavily and Johnny put his hands on her shoulders and brought her in close. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and exhaled. The entire world and all of its problems still melted away when he held her like this.

"What's going on with the girls? I could hear them arguing from the garage…" he chuckled.

"Gavin invited Regan to the movies tonight and of course Ava has been flipping out about it…" she said and Johnny laughed again.

"Who would've guessed that Spinelli's son would turn out to be popular?" he snickered and Lulu had to smile.

"So very true… alright, I think I should go upstairs to talk to them…" she said, withdrawing from his embrace.

"Do you need some reinforcements?" he asked but she shook her head.

"No, I'll be ok… it's a girl thing anyway…" she said, smirking.

She started to walk away but Johnny caught her wrist and pulled her back towards him. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her slowly, practically drawing out the breath from her body. She thought that she would be used to kissing him but every single time he did, she felt just as much heat as the first time he kissed her at the overlook, which seemed like almost a lifetime ago. He pulled away and smiled back at her.

"I love you…" he whispered.

"I love you too…" she said before pressing another kiss to his lips.

"Alright, if you don't go upstairs right now… I'm not going to let you leave my arms for the rest of the night…" he said, as he twisted a strand of her blond hair around his fingertips, and Lulu giggled.

"Ew! Get a room!" Christian cried.

"Hey, in a few years… you're going to be just like this over some girl…" Johnny said but Christian shook his head.

"Never…" Christian insisted.

Lulu laughed as Johnny joined him as he played video games. She walked upstairs and into the twins' bedroom and they were both sitting on their beds, on the opposite sides of the room, with their backs to each other. Lulu sighed and shook her head.

"Girls, come here…." Lulu said.

Ava and Regan obeyed their mother and stood up and walked towards her. She looked at both of them, Ava with her sleek blond hair and amber colored eyes and Regan with her dark curls and pensive chocolate colored eyes. Ava had an athletic build from her cheerleading while Regan was slim from her extensive dance training. They were so different but stunningly beautiful at the same time. She and Johnny really did have the prettiest girls in Port Charles.

"You two are sisters… and even though you won't admit it now, you guys love each other… and you should never let a boy get in between what you two have… boys will come and go but you two will have each other forever…" Lulu said.

Regan and Ava looked at each other but quickly looked away and they both folded their arms across their chests. Lulu tried to hide a small smile, knowing that what she had said had resonated with the two of them.

"Regan… if you don't like Gavin in the way that he likes you, then you shouldn't give him false hope… believe me, leading someone on because you want somebody else is never a good idea… you need to tell him the truth… it's not fair to him or yourself…" Lulu said, turning towards Regan.

Lulu had tilted Regan's chin up so that she was looking her directly in the eye and Regan sniffed and nodded her head.

"And Ava… if you want Gavin so badly, you need to tell him… and if he doesn't feel the same way about you then you let it go and move on… but you can't get mad about what Gavin does if he doesn't know how you feel…" Lulu said as she held Ava's face in her fingertips.

Ava wiped her eyes and nodded like her sister had done. Lulu smiled again and sighed. She saw so much of herself in these two girls. Of course, the situation with Logan and Johnny was a little bit more complicated than Regan's predicament. Lulu thanked god that it wasn't just as complicated but she knew how she felt. And of course she had been there where Ava had been. She remembered exactly how she felt that her feelings for Johnny were screaming at her, wanting to come out, but she just never had to nerve to say anything.

"Didn't your dad and I teach you to never settle? I sure didn't settle and neither should you… always go after what you want… and besides, you're Spencers and Zaccharas… and **we don't settle**…" Lulu said, smiling.

Both Ava and Regan smiled upon hearing their mother's words and they both wrapped their arms around her and squeezed her tightly. Lulu kissed the tops of her daughter's heads and couldn't help but to laugh. She was pretty sure that she had just unleashed many potential sleepless nights for her husband because these girls were going to have any guy they chose wrapped around their fingers.


	22. Virgin Territory

**A/N:** I have exciting news… *drum roll* I've started writing my next new long series! HOORAY! I knew that you'd be excited :) I just got the inspiration to write the prologue… (I actually had it half written months ago but I'm re-writing it… so it'll sound so much better than what it was) I don't know when it's going to go up but it should be going up sooner rather than later… so, get excited for that! And I'm going to keep up with this… so don't worry… alright, enough with that and onwards with the JoLu fluff…

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**Virgin Territory**

Lulu always enjoyed when they all sat down together for dinner. It was a rare occasion nowadays, with Regan always coming home late from dance rehearsal, Ava from cheerleading practice and Christian from piano. Johnny was also pulling later hours as the kids got older since there was no need for both of them to be at home.

"Pass the mashed potatoes please…" Regan asked, pointing to the bowl that was sitting in front of Johnny.

"Sure…" Johnny said, handing her the bowl.

"So Ava… how's Gavin doing?" Lulu asked and Ava couldn't help but to beam back at her mother at the mention of her boyfriend's name.

"He's fine… he's taking me into Manhattan next week for our three month anniversary… since Maxie took over both Crimson and Couture, she gets tickets to everything in Manhattan and she got tickets to see that new Broadway show that the critics have been raving about…" Ava said, happily as she took a bite of her salmon.

Both Regan and Christian snorted under their breath. Nothing got Ava talking like her three month relationship with Gavin Spinelli. Johnny sighed heavily and took a sip of the glass of wine that he was holding. He was coping much better with the idea of his kids dating. He had calmed down from full-blown meltdowns to silent freakouts.

"Well that's nice…" Lulu said.

"Yeah…" Johnny mumbled and Regan and Christian snickered again.

"Do you already have your wedding dress picked out, Ava?" Christian teased and Ava's face turned bright red.

"Well you shouldn't be the one to talk, Chris… didn't I see you staring at Elise Giambetti when you and mom came to my rehearsal yesterday?" Regan laughed and Christian blanched.

"I did not!" Christian cried.

"Wait… Max and Diane's daughter?" Johnny asked as a smirk crept across his face.

"Yeah… she goes to the same studio as me… she's in the intermediate class though… I've run barré exercises for that class a few times when Natasha was running late… she **is** very pretty, Christian…" Regan said.

"Alright… nice going, Chris…" Johnny said, winking at his son, and Ava laughed as Christian sunk down into his chair, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Elise Giambetti? Isn't she a bit old for you? She's just a bit younger than you guys, right?" Lulu asked, turning towards her daughters but Ava shook her head.

"No… she's fourteen, I believe… which makes her about two years older than Chris… not that bad…" Ava said.

"Alright! And she's older!" Johnny laughed, nudging his son's shoulder but stopped when his eyes met his wife's disapproving ones.

"Can we stop talking about this? Please?" Christian cried.

Both Ava and Regan giggled but Lulu shot them a look that made them stop teasing Christian. Johnny cleared his throat and went back to eating dinner, trying hard to conceal a smile. Lulu sighed heavily and picked up her fork, looking at Christian fume at his sisters from the corner of her eye. It just seemed like yesterday that she and Johnny brought him home from the hospital, nestled in his carrier and a blue blanket. There was no possible way that he could be interested in girls. He was still a baby.

_Well, he was still her baby._

"Shut up, Ava!" Christian cried and both Ava and Regan howled in laughter.

"Oh lighten up, Chris… we're just kidding…" Ava said.

"Mom!" Christian whined.

"Girls… come on… stop teasing him…" Lulu reasoned.

"You love getting us into trouble with mom, don't you?" Regan taunted.

"Girls…" Johnny warned.

"I can get you into so much more trouble…" Christian snarled across the table at his two older sisters.

"Really? Go on… we'd like to see you try…" Ava said, with a confident smirk.

Lulu put her fingertips to her temple and closed her eyes, knowing that this nice and peaceful family dinner had ceased to be nice and peaceful. She just hoped that no one would end up killing each other before they got to the cheesecake that she had bought for tonight's dessert.

"Regan was the one who put that dent in your Mercedes, mom…" Christian quickly said and Regan's eyes immediately widened.

"You little—" Regan shrieked.

"And Ava wants to go to third base with Gavin…" Christian said, returning the same smug smirk that was quickly disappearing from Ava's face.

"I'm going to kill you! You've been eavesdropping in our room again, haven't you?" Ava screamed.

Christian laughed triumphantly and jumped out of his chair, dashing upstairs before either of his sisters could even catch him. Lulu just stared across the table at her husband's dumbfounded expression. Ava and Regan attempted to leave the table but were paralyzed by the sound of their father's disapproving voice.

"Sit down… both of you…" Johnny said and both girls grimaced as they returned to their seats.

"I was going to tell you about the car…" Regan started but Johnny just shook his head.

"Third base?" he asked, incredulously.

Lulu pressed one of her fingertips to her temple and sighed heavily. Any progress that Johnny had made with accepting his daughters dating had just gone out the window.

"Do we need to have the talk?" Lulu asked and both Regan and Ava grimaced at the prospect of receiving a sex-ed talk from their parents.

"Oh, we'll have a talk… about how there's going to be no more dates until your eighteenth birthday!" Johnny roared.

After a thirty minute discussion and Regan receiving a month's worth of grounding for not telling the truth about the dent on the car, Lulu brought out the Oreo cheesecake that she had bought while Johnny went upstairs to go to bed. She watched as her daughters meekly picked at their slices of cheesecake and she couldn't help but to snicker.

"Well, I hope you learned your lesson…" Lulu said.

"What's that?" Regan asked, glumly.

"Don't piss off your brother…" Lulu laughed.


	23. In Too Deep

**A/N**: Wow, this has been a crazy week! But thank god it's over!!! So, I know that a lot of you have been asking about Regan's love life and this is just snippet of what's to come with her :) I also like picturing Regan as a ballet dancer. I pictured her having her dad's artistic tendencies but channeled into a different medium. Thank you guys for all of your awesome comments! I'm really glad that you're enjoying these scenes as much as I enjoy writing them. Happy reading!

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**In Too Deep**

"I hate ballet…"

Johnny shot a glare at Christian a glare that made him stop whining and sink back into his chair. It was the spring showcase and after years of practicing and dancing in the corps, Regan had been cast as Giselle. Regan could barely contain her excitement at her first principal role in a major production and it was her favorite ballet. Johnny and Lulu had bought tickets for her and Reese Morgan to see the Kirov perform it in Manhattan last year as a part of her birthday gift. She practiced every waking moment, turning their spacious living room into an impromptu dance studio whenever she deemed it necessary for her to rehearse. Lulu had even bought her a new pair of pointe shoes for the performance.

"Do you think Regan is nervous?" Lulu asked as they sat down in their seats.

"No… she knows this choreography backwards and forwards…" Ava said, flipping through her program.

"Oh look! There's Grandma and Grandpa!" Christian said, pointing.

Laura waved to her young grandson and she and Luke made their way over towards their section. Laura kissed both Christian and Ava while Johnny shook Luke's hand. They all knew that Luke was less than thrilled to go see a ballet but he hid his aversion to it well.

"Nikolas and Claudia should be here soon…" Laura said, excitedly as she sat down next to her daughter.

"Ooh, look who it is, Ava…" Christian giggled as he nudged his older sister.

Lulu followed her son's gaze and saw Jason and Sam Morgan sit down a few seats away from them. Sam looked over and waved to Lulu and she waved back. Jason offered a curt nod of acknowledgement. However, sitting next to Jason, focused on the program in his hand was Jake Morgan. He was the spitting image of his father, with the same blue eyes and chiseled features except he had rich brown hair like his mother. She understood why Regan, and a handful of other girls in the town, had it bad for Jake Morgan. Sensing that someone was watching him, he looked up and he met Lulu's eyes and offered a small smile. Lulu laughed to herself as he went back to reading his program. He wasn't the one for small talk either, just like Jason.

"I wonder if Regan knows that he's here…" Christian whispered to Ava.

"She has to know… Reese is dancing in the corps… and Jake always comes to the performances… Sam makes him come to watch Reese…" Ava laughed.

"Well, she's going to show off tonight then…" Christian said, folding his arms across her chest.

"She doesn't need to show off… she's got the best technique in the entire school… she's the only one who could dance the role of Giselle…" Ava said.

"Is that why you quit ballet years ago? Because she was better than you at it?" Christian asked but Ava shook he head.

"No… Regan loved it more than I ever did… and you can see it when she dances…" Ava said.

Lulu smiled at her daughter's words and couldn't help but to notice that Jake was listening too. He was trying to be discreet by not looking up from his program but she knew. She studied his expression and she couldn't help but to notice that his crystal blue eyes looked sad. She was snapped out of her reverie as the lights began to dim and the buzzing of people's voices began to lower as the ballet started.

"Wow… look at Regan… she looks so beautiful…" Laura whispered.

Lulu smiled as she watched Regan move gracefully across the stage. Every person in the theater couldn't take their eyes off of her as she danced. She held the entire audience in the palm of her hand as she told the story. Lulu looked over at her husband and saw him getting misty-eyed at her performance. At the end of the program, Regan received a standing ovation. Taking her partner's hand, she curtsied for the audience elegantly, smiling brightly and reveling in the applause. Luke whistled and Johnny whooped as she took her solo curtsy.

"Ok, do you guys want to wait out here while I go and see if she's ready?" Lulu asked as people filed out of the theater.

"I'll go with you…" Ava offered.

They walked down the narrow corridor towards the dressing rooms as Johnny and Christian stayed behind to chat with Nikolas, Claudia and Nadia. People were everywhere, yelling, hugging, and offering congratulations. Suddenly, Ava grabbed her mother's arms and yanked her around the corner. Lulu started to say something to protest but her words died on her lips when she heard Regan's distressed voice.

"So that's just it? You tell me goodbye and it's over?" Regan cried.

Both Ava and Lulu peaked around the corner in the direction of Regan's voice and saw her still dressed in her white dress from the performance but she was standing directly in front of Jake Morgan. Her hands were clasped together like she was pleading with him while his head was hung in defeat.

"Sneaking around isn't enough to build a relationship on, Regan… you deserve better than what I can give… I'm—I'm no good for you…" Jake lamented.

"You don't mean that…" she sobbed.

"I do… you're still young… and you should be with someone that you don't have to hide…" he said.

"So that's why you're dumping me? Because I'm four years younger than you?" she cried.

Both Ava and Lulu winced at Regan's words for Jake. Ava probably knew that this was going on for a while and didn't say anything to her parents because she knew that neither of them approved of Regan dating Jake because of the age difference. Still, Lulu's heart broke to see her daughter's break.

"I'm sorry…" Jake whispered.

Regan grabbed his arm as one last chance to reason with him but he gently removed it from her grasp and walked away. As Regan bent over her countertop in front of her vanity mirror and cried, Lulu swore that she saw a glimmer of a tear roll down Jake's face but he quickly brushed it off as he made his way back to the lobby of the theater. Ava quickly rushed over to her sister and put her arms around her shoulders, letting Regan cry on her shoulder. Lulu silently watched her daughters embrace each other and sighed.

"It's going to be ok, Ree-Ree…" Ava said, gently stroking her sister's dark brown curls.

Regan put on a good face for their family when they reached the lobby. She was all smiles as her grandparents and aunts and uncles praised her performance and she managed to pull herself together enough to go to the after-party later that evening, even though Lulu knew that she was hurting on the inside.

"Mom?"

Lulu looked up from her book to find Regan standing in the doorway to her bedroom, a few hours before they expected her to be home. Lulu scooted over and patted the spot next to her and Regan crawled up next to her mother.

"Can I ask you a question?" Regan asked quietly.

"Anything…" Lulu said.

"Did daddy—"Regan started but her voice broke as he emotions came flooding to the surface. "Did daddy ever try to break things off with you because—because he thought that he wasn't good for you?"

Lulu gave a small smile and set down her book beside her. It was surreal at times to witness the parallels in her girls' lives with her own. She curled a lock of Regan's hair around her ear and sighed.

"More times than you know… but Regan, you're still so young… you have years to find the right man for you… and I know that you may feel that it's the end of the world because Jake feels that it's not the right time for the two of you to be in a relationship but it's not… and if it's meant to be, it'll happen…" Lulu said and Regan nodded sadly.

"How did you know? That daddy was the one?" Regan asked and Lulu smiled.

"I knew that he was the one when I saw that he was willing to put what was best for me before anything else… even his own life… he loved me enough to let me go… even if it was the hardest thing that he could've done… _he_ _loved me enough to put me first…_" Lulu said.

Regan put her head on Lulu's shoulder and closed her eyes. If she could give her daughters anything, it would be someone who would love them with all of the strength that Johnny had shown her throughout these years that they were together. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, Lulu put her arm around her daughter's narrow shoulders and looked up at the doorway to see Johnny leaning against the doorway, looking at her in the way that he had done for the past seventeen years.

"I'd still do anything for you…" he whispered.

"I know…" she said.


	24. Summer Breeze

**A/N**: So this chapter is really long… but that's alright I guess… so I got a request to include some interaction with Luke and Laura bonding with JoLu and the kids so I thought that this would be a fun scene to write… and I think that it's time for some Spencer family wackiness :)

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**Summer Breeze**

"Do you think that the kids will be ok?"

Johnny turned towards his wife and smiled. They were on vacation in Paris with Luke and Laura to celebrate Lulu's birthday. Johnny had surprised Lulu with the vacation two weeks ago as an early birthday present. Nikolas and Claudia were flying in to Paris later that night with Spencer and Nadia, as they were already in Greece for the summer. However, Lucky couldn't make it because he had just taken over the position of police commissioner when Mac Scorpio retired. Johnny threaded his fingertips through Lulu's as they sat out on the balcony of the chateau that Johnny had rented, enjoying the warm summer weather. Laura had taken her granddaughters out for breakfast and then for shopping on the Champs Elysees while Luke had taken Christian out for some "male bonding".

"They'll be fine…" he muttered against her skin before pressing a kiss behind her ear.

Lulu was lying against him as they sat on a recliner chair and his arms were wrapped around her waist. He buried his nose in her golden locks and the scent of her strawberry shampoo and squeezed her tighter. Lying with her in his arms was always how he liked to spend his days, regardless of where they happened to be. He drew little circles on her arms with his fingers and she giggled softly.

"In the meantime… we have until seven before everybody comes back for dinner…" she said.

"And what are you suggesting?" he asked, smirking, and she laughed again.

"Come on…" she said, nudging his shoulder.

She stood up but he protested as she attempted to leave his arms. She laughed again as he brought her back down on top of him. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. She obliged him for a moment but as soon as she felt him relent slightly, she slipped from his arms and stood up, smiling triumphantly.

"Get up…" she said, trying to get her husband off the chair.

"Where are we going?" he asked as she dragged him inside.

"You'll see…" she said.

They walked downstairs and into the garage and next to the car that they had rented were a pair of bicycles. Johnny raised an eyebrow as Lulu climbed onto the red one and motioned to the blue one, wanting him to get on.

"Biking? Are you joking?" he laughed.

"Yes, Zacchara… we're going biking… the trails around the chateau are supposed to be amazing… and besides, you wouldn't want the birthday girl to be unhappy, now would you?" she asked sweetly.

"I guess not…" he said and Lulu smiled again.

"Come on, Johnny…" she said, patting the seat on the blue bike.

He barely got onto the bike before she took off, laughing the entire way. He immediately raced after her. He loved seeing her like this with the wind whipping through her golden tresses and hearing her infectious laughter float through the air as he struggled to catch up with her speed. She was as wild and carefree as the day that he met her. He followed her along lush meadows and through trees and did manage to catch up with her when they pedaled into a clearing. Taking a large picnic blanket out of the basket, Lulu skipped into the clearing and spread it out on the grass underneath the cloudless blue sky. He joined her on the blanket, staring at her as she lay on her back, staring up at the sky. Her skin was starting to turn sun-kissed from spending time outdoors and he loved every inch of it.

"What're you thinking about?" she asked.

"How beautiful you are and how much I love you…" he whispered, curling a lock of hair around her ear, and she laughed.

"I know that you're just saying that because you think that might get something out of it…" she giggled.

"Is it working?" he asked, as his hand trailed across her stomach.

"Well… I know that if you don't kiss me in the next five seconds, I might just burst…" she whispered.

This time it was Johnny's turn to laugh and he bent down to oblige her demand. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of her. He was thankful that she had decided to wear a summery dress that allowed for easy access. Her hands worked skillfully and swiftly to loosen certain articles of his clothing and within seconds, he was pressed inside of her. He held her there for a moment, knowing that he was torturing her, but he then made love to her underneath that bright blue sky.

"Oh god…" he groaned against her neck.

She bit down on his shoulder as a small cry escaped her lips. He trailed soft kisses along her collarbone and she laughed softly. He rolled over so that he was on his back and she curled up beside him, wrapping her arm around his torso. He could see them having this life after the kids after they all left for college. He could see them living in Europe, maybe here in France or in Italy, in one of these old historical houses, they could take bike rides through the countryside and make love in the grass.

"We should do this more often…" she whispered.

"What? The sex or the vacations to Paris?" he chuckled and she gently swatted his chest.

"The vacations, of course… even though the sex isn't that bad either." Lulu said.

"Ah, so that's all I'm good for? Just sex?" Johnny asked, tilting her chin up towards him.

"Of course not… you know that I love you more than anything, right?" she asked, as she ran her fingertips along his cheekbone.

"Yeah… but it's always nice to hear you say it…" he laughed before he kissed her again.

"Alright… the sun's going down and I think that we should head back to the house… the girls should be back along with my mom and knowing them, they're all going to come back with about fifty bags apiece and they're going to want to show us every single outfit that they bought…" she said, standing up and straightening out her dress.

Again, he groaned as she left his arms but he followed suit and stood up. He folded up the blanket and packed it back into the basket on the front handle bars of Lulu's bike. They rode back together, taking a more relaxed and leisurely pace than before when she was racing him. They pulled their bikes into the driveway of the chateau and were immediately met with Laura and the girls.

"Hi mom!" Regan chirped.

"Hi girls… hi, mom…" Lulu said as she kissed her mother's cheek.

"Hi sweetheart… oh we just had the most fabulous time at the boutiques, didn't we, girls?" Laura mused.

"Yes! We went down the Champs Elysees and everything…" Ava squealed.

"I'm assuming that you bought tons of stuff…" Johnny laughed.

"Daddy, it's Paris… of course we bought a ton of stuff! Haven't you heard of Parisian chic?" Ava asked.

"You really did take after your grandmother with your obsession with fashion and shopping…" Lulu muttered.

They all laughed as they walked inside. Johnny and Laura went back out onto the balcony while the twins dragged their mother into their room and showed them everything that they had bought. Ava had stocked up on outfits for her trip to Martha's Vineyard later on during the summer with Gavin while Regan was a big fan of jewelry and handbags so she had bought at least four designer handbags. The sun went down and there was still no sign of Luke or Christian as the hour inched closer to dinnertime.

"I tried Luke's cell phone again…" Laura said.

"But it's not like he picks it up or uses it anyway…" Ava said.

"Try calling again…" Lulu said, the worry creeping up in her voice.

"I'm sure that they're fine…" Johnny said, putting his arms around his wife's shoulders.

As soon as the words came off Johnny's tongue, everyone at the chateau heard a roar of a sports car pull into the driveway. They all clambered downstairs to meet Luke and Christian as they climbed out of a black Lamborghini that clearly did not belong to anyone in that house. Lulu's face immediately turned into a disapproving frown, knowing exactly what was going on.

"Tell me you didn't…" Lulu growled at her father.

"Didn't do what, cupcake?" Luke asked, innocently.

"Tell me that you didn't hotwire this car!" Lulu cried and Luke shook his head.

"I didn't… Christian did…" Luke said proudly as he ruffled up Christian's brown hair.

Christian beamed up at his proud grandfather while Johnny and Regan tried to not laugh and Ava and Laura looked shocked. Lulu pressed her fingertips to her temple and sighed.

"I couldn't believe that you hadn't taught him how to hotwire a car yet, cupcake… it's a Spencer tradition to know how and I taught you how to hotwire a car when you were younger than he is…" Luke said.

"Mommy knows how to hotwire a car?" Christian squealed and Lulu flashed her father an angry look.

"And I think that it's time for dinner…" Laura said, gently guiding Christian inside and trying to avoid a confrontation.

Dinner went on without a hitch, after Luke took the car back, with much protesting on Christian's part. He was proud of his handiwork and it was true that it was harder to hotwire European cars but Lulu could not be swayed. The house quieted down after dinner and Johnny found Lulu out on the balcony after she gave Christian a rather lenient two week grounding for stealing a Lamborghini.

"Our son… stole a Lamborghini Murcielago today… I don't know whether to be proud or horrified…" Johnny chuckled.

"I'm horrified…" Lulu said, shaking her head, and he laughed heartily.

"Don't be… he's got a little bit of an edge to him… he's our son… if he wasn't stealing cars, I think that we should be worried… and besides, it's not like we haven't done worse stuff… sneaking a gun into the PCPD, breaking out of police custody, going on the run from the cops for months…" he joked and Lulu grimaced.

"Oh god… are our kids going to turn out just like us?" she asked and he wrapped his arms around her.

"What's so wrong with that?" he asked and Lulu smirked.

"Well… when Christian gets to be around sixteen or seventeen, we're going to have to worry about him not only running around with girls but running around with girls in stolen sports cars…" she said and the smile slowly faded from his face.

"Oh." Johnny said, finally finding his words.


	25. Since She Left Me

**A/N:** Musical inspiration for this chapter is "She Left Me" by McFly, which is an awesome British band and it's literally one of my favorite songs ever… and I'm so glad that you guys have really embraced the couplings of Ava/Gavin and Regan/Jake… This chapter is focused on Ava/Gavin… the song, I imagined would be the song that Gavin would have on repeat during this chapter... I think you'll see where I'm going here... but I just wanted to show them some love since they haven't had much drama (at least not as much as Regan/Jake) but I promise that the next chapter will be focused on Regan/Jake (That's directed at you Trish ;) lol) But anyway, keep your comments coming! I love hearing from you guys!!!

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**Since She Left Me**

"Ava… come on, sweetie… open the door…"

Lulu pressed her ear against the door to the twins' bedroom and overheard Ava's muffled sobs on the other side. Johnny immediately lunged for the doorknob but Lulu caught his hand and shook her head. They couldn't just barge into her room. She had to calm down and come on her own. He shot his wife a look of concern as Ava wailed on the other side of the door and Lulu just sighed.

"Sweetheart, we can't help you if we don't know what's wrong…" Lulu said.

"You can't help me… no one can…" Ava cried.

Suddenly, the phone began to ring and Johnny left to go answer it. It was just the three of them at home today because Regan was out taking Christian to piano class before she headed to an audition. Johnny came back, cordless handset in hand and knocked on the door.

"Ava… Gavin's on the phone for you…" he said and he immediately winced as she began sobbing all over again.

"Tell him that I **don't** want to talk to him!" Ava yelled.

Johnny looked to Lulu, clearly in shock. Everything had been fine with Ava and Gavin recently. Ava would just continue to gush about how wonderful he was to her and how much he loved her. There was no sign of any unhappiness in their relationship. Johnny pressed the phone against his ear and quickly told Gavin that Ava did not want to speak with him.

"Ava… open the door… please…" Johnny said. The sense of worry was now creeping up into his voice as well.

"No…" Ava sobbed.

He sighed heavily and shot Lulu an exasperated look. She knew that it killed him to see any one of his children in pain just like it killed her too. Johnny didn't like to feel helpless and right now, he was feeling pretty helpless to stop his daughter's heart from breaking. The phone began to ring again and Johnny handed Lulu the phone. She sighed and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" Lulu asked and before she could even begin to finish, she was met with Maxie's angry voice.

"Lulu? What the hell is going on?" Maxie asked.

"What are you talking about?" Lulu asked, as she walked downstairs, leaving Johnny to try and bring Ava out of her room.

"What am I talking about? I'm talking about your daughter breaking my poor Gavie's heart!" Maxie cried and Lulu felt her nostrils flare from anger.

"My daughter broke your 'poor' Gavie's heart? How is that possible when it's **Ava** who's inconsolable upstairs in her bedroom?" Lulu shrieked.

"Gavin says that Ava broke up with him today out of nowhere and now she won't even take any of his phone calls… Lulu, I've never seen him like this before… he's really upset…" Maxie said.

"What do you want me to do?" Lulu sighed.

"Find out what happened… please?" Maxie asked.

Lulu agreed and hung up the phone. Something wasn't right, even Maxie felt it. Ava and Gavin had been so close for so long. Gavin practically worshipped the ground that Ava walked on ever since they started dating and there had never been an ounce of drama during the time that they had been together. She sighed heavily and trotted back upstairs. Surprisingly, Ava had opened the door and had let Johnny into her bedroom. Ava was curled up against him and he was gently stroking her back.

"That was Maxie on the phone… and she told me that you broke up with Gavin… do you want to tell us what happened?" Lulu asked, kneeling down in front of the two of them, and Ava sniffed and tried to compose herself.

"Last week… Gavin got his college acceptance letters…" Ava began as she wiped her eyes.

"Oh…" Lulu said, wincing.

Ava and Gavin were a year apart and it wasn't a secret that Gavin was the brightest student at Port Charles High and was smart enough to get into the best schools in the country. Gavin had worked tirelessly to have the best grade point average in his graduating senior class and Lulu even saw the changes in Ava's study habits when she began seeing Gavin. Ava covered her mouth and tried to suppress a sob.

"And he got into Stanford… which is where he's been dying to go ever since we were little kids… but he said that he was thinking about going to PCU…" Ava cried.

"Did he say why?" Johnny asked but Ava just shook her head.

"He didn't need to… he wants to stay in Port Charles because of me…" Ava sniffed.

"So that's why you broke up with him…" Lulu said, understanding her daughter's logic.

"I didn't want to hold him back… as much as I love him and want him to stay with me, I don't want to be the reason why he gives up his dream… I want him to have everything that he wants…" Ava sobbed.

Johnny kissed the top of Ava's head as she buried her face into his black blazer. He wrapped his arms around Ava and sighed heavily. Of course Johnny would always be seen as having a tough as nails exterior, but Lulu always loved to see that soft side of him come out when he was with his family. He was always so sensitive to the needs and emotions of his kids that he often took them on as his own. She reached over and gently stroked her daughter's back as she cried.

"Ava… you know that wasn't fair to Gavin… you took away his right to make a decision…" Johnny started.

"I don't want him to regret not going every single time he looks at me…" Ava lamented.

"You say that you want him to have everything that he wants… but what he wants the most is you, sweetheart… and I know that you don't want him to give up on going to Stanford because of you but you should let him make that choice for himself…" Lulu said.

Johnny reached over to grab the cordless phone that was sitting beside Lulu. Ava wiped her eyes as he handed her phone. Lulu saw as Johnny gave her a knowing look and Ava took the phone out of her father's hand. Lulu took Johnny by the hand and led him out of the bedroom, letting Ava have her privacy as she called Gavin.

"I think she'll be ok…" Lulu said as they lounged on the couch downstairs together.

"I think so too… whether Gavin decides to stay in Port Charles or not…" he sighed.

Lulu closed her eyes and relaxed back into Johnny's arms but was disrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Immediately, Ava came running down the stairs and opened the front door before either of her parents could move an inch. Gavin came in through the front door, bearing a bouquet of yellow lilies for Ava. From where she was sitting, Lulu saw that Maxie had been right. Gavin's brown hair was slightly disheveled and his eyes, hidden behind his thin framed glasses, looked like he had been crying for hours straight. She offered a watery smile as she took the flowers in her hands.

"I'm so sorry…" Ava squeaked but Gavin just shook his head.

"Don't you ever… and I mean ever… do that to me again, Ava… ok?" Gavin said, as he wiped his eyes. His own voice began to crack from hours of thinking that probably didn't want to be with him anymore.

Ava could barely even nod in agreement before Gavin took her in his arms and kissed her. Lulu covered her mouth with her hand to conceal a smile as Johnny cleared his throat uncomfortably. She nudged him in an effort to shut him up and to not embarrass Ava in front of her boyfriend but it was clear to the both of them that neither Ava nor Gavin cared that her parents were sitting ten feet away. Without leaving Gavin's arms, Ava took her flowers and led Gavin upstairs to her room. Lulu could feel Johnny's nerves go into overdrive at the prospect of his daughter upstairs in her bedroom with a boy. Before Lulu could even utter a single syllable, Johnny practically jumped off the couch and ran to the foot of the stairs.

"Ava! You know the rules! No closed doors!" Johnny shouted and Lulu just shook her head.

"So much for being understanding…" Lulu chuckled.


	26. When a Man Loves a Woman

**A/N:** So I was watching some old GH clips that I had and I stumbled upon the fabulous "When a Man Loves a Woman" montage from 2005 and I instantly thought that the song was a Regan/Jake song… hence, it's the title of this chapter :) But again, I can't thank you guys enough for your wonderful comments… you guys are the absolute greatest!!!

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**When a Man Loves a Woman**

Lulu sat in their living room, watching Johnny pace back and forth. At this rate, he was going to wear a hole into their newly redone hardwood floors. She would've been tired since it was two-thirty in the morning but she was just as anxious and worried as Johnny was.

"Maybe we should've called the police… Lucky is the police commissioner after all…" Johnny muttered as he fiddled with his cell phone but Lulu just shook her head.

"She's going to come home, Johnny…" Lulu insisted.

"I'm going to go back out and look…" he said, picking up his jacket and his car keys.

Lulu stood up to stop him but was stopped by the front door opening. Regan walked into the living room, still dressed in her dark purple prom dress, and froze when she met the disapproving glare of her parents. Johnny's attention snapped to the window as he heard the familiar roar of a motorcycle as it pulled away from the house.

"Mom… Dad…" Regan started but Johnny shook his head and held up his hand to silence her.

"Do you have **any** idea of what you've put me and your mother through tonight?" he asked.

"I'm sorry… I can explain… I really can…" Regan said, calmly trying to rationalize with her parents.

"From the beginning…" he growled, enunciating every syllable.

Lulu put her hand on Johnny's arm, silently telling him to take his anger down a notch. Of course he had a right to be upset but yelling at Regan wasn't going to make the situation any easier. They had received a phone call about what had occurred at the prom but even Johnny had to admit that it probably wasn't the whole story. Regan looked down at her hands and nodded.

"I was at the prom with Dominic Lansing… and we were dancing… and I was feeling uncomfortable because it was clear that he had had been drinking before hand and he was starting to get a little too physical for me…" Regan started to explain and Lulu saw Johnny's nostrils flare in anger.

"Johnny… let her finish…" Lulu warned.

"So I asked him if we could stop and go sit back down at our table but he said no… so I tried to stop dancing with him but he wouldn't let me go and I swear—I swear that I didn't know that Jake was there…" Regan said.

"Don't lie to us, Regan…" Johnny warned.

"I didn't know! I swear to god that I didn't know that he was there… but he saw what was happening and he pulled Dominic off me… and then that's when Dominic threw the first punch…" Regan explained.

"Which explains the phone call about the fight…" Lulu said, putting her hand on Johnny's shoulder, as if to reassure him.

That phone call about the fight that had broken out at the prom had been a shock to say the least. Johnny had just about lost his mind when the principal said the words "Regan"," fight", and "boys" all in one sentence. Johnny pressed his fingers to his temple and sighed heavily. He was just now wrapping his head around the seriousness of Gavin and Ava's relationship and now this business with Regan's dating habits would surely give him a coronary.

"What happened next?" Johnny asked.

"A few of the chaperones broke up the fight and of course they kicked both Dominic and Jake out of the prom for getting into the fight… and Dominic took off after that, basically leaving me completely stranded at the MetroCourt because Gavin and Ava had already left for the after party…" Regan said.

"Why didn't you call us or find Carly or Jax? Surely they had to have been there since it was their hotel…" Lulu asked.

"I was just about to but that's when Jake pulled up and offered to give me a ride… but he was hurt pretty badly from the fight and I didn't want to have him driving across town to drop me off back here so… we—we went back to his apartment…" Regan said with hesitation clear in her voice when she told the truth about being in Jake's apartment.

"You were in Jake Morgan's apartment… by yourself?" Johnny seethed.

"So you just sat around his apartment for two and a half hours?" Lulu asked, shooting Johnny a look in order to make him stop fuming.

The expression on Regan's face suddenly changed at her mother's question. She immediately averted her mother's questioning gaze and looked down at the floor. Lulu looked closer at Regan and saw that her daughter's face had turned bright red.

And it immediately dawned on her that her daughter had not spent two and a half hours simply **talking** with Jake Morgan.

Lulu couldn't help but to gasp slightly upon her realization and she looked over at Johnny and a look of absolute horror washed over his face as the reality of the situation dawned on him as well. The shock of the realization that his little girl was now a "woman" quickly subsided and anger took over. He immediately jumped off the couch but Lulu grabbed his arm, preventing him from racing out the front door.

"Johnny, where are you going?" Lulu asked.

"Where am I going? I'm about to go kick the crap out of that Jake Morgan for touching my daughter!" Johnny roared.

Lulu groaned as he removed his arm from her grasp and headed towards the door but he was stopped by Regan, who was blocking the door by pressing her back against it. She met her father's angry glare with one of her own. If anything, Regan was never shy about making her feelings known to others, a trait that she had inherited from both of them, especially Johnny. She planted her feet firmly in front of the door and shook her head.

"No, you're not…" Regan said.

"Regan… don't argue with me on this…" Johnny said.

"Daddy… I—I love him…" Regan blurted out.

Lulu saw something in Johnny's eyes change as Regan divulged her true feelings. Her arms were clasped together beseechingly in front of her chest, almost if she had believed that Johnny would go out and hurt Jake Morgan for so much as looking at her. Johnny's firm stance waivered and he sighed heavily, wordlessly obliging to listen to her.

"I love him, daddy… and believe me, I've tried to stay away from him and to forget about him… we both tried… but tonight, he told me that loved me and that seeing me with someone else made him realize that he didn't want to fight what we had… because it wasn't going to go away…" Regan said and Johnny shook his head.

"Regan, he's twenty one years old…" he said.

"Would that have stopped you and mom?" Regan asked.

"Your dad and I were different…" Lulu interjected.

"But did you listen to everyone who told you that dad was bad for you, mom? What about you, dad? Did you listen to Uncle Lucky, Uncle Nik, or Aunt Claudia when they told you to stay away from mom?" Regan asked her parents.

Lulu pressed her fingertips to her temple. Sometimes she regretted telling their kids the details about how they came together because they could easily throw it in their faces when they wanted free reign over who they wanted to date.

"We'll talk more about this in the morning but it's well past three o'clock… but right now, you need to go upstairs and go to sleep…" Lulu said.

Regan gently wiped her eyes with her fingertips and then picked up the bottom of her dress and started towards the stairs. She stopped at the foot of the stairs and turned back around to face her parents. Her dark brown hair that had been pinned up in a bun when she had left the house with Dominic was now down in loose curls that hung on her shoulders and the traces of mascara that she had applied earlier were slightly running down her face. The pang of guilt that was already sitting in the pit of Lulu's stomach flared as she took in her daughter's melancholic demeanor.

"You know, it's funny really… because you guys were the ones who taught me that you can't help who you fall in love with…" Regan said softly.

With that, she turned back around and headed upstairs to bed. As soon as she was out of sight, Lulu turned around back to Johnny and she was met with an equally concerned look.

"I feel like such a hypocrite… I mean, we romanticize how we got together and then in the moment when things start to look like how we were years ago, we both flip out…" Lulu said as she sat back down on their couch.

"Things are different when you have kids of your own…" Johnny muttered, sitting down beside her.

"But, Johnny… it's not like we can stop them anyway… she and Ava will be eighteen soon and they'll be off at college… and the harder that we try to hold her back, the harder she's going to fight us… and I don't want her to push us away…" she said, putting her head on his shoulder.

He put his arm around her and sighed. She placed her arm across his chest and exhaled deeply. She could feel his tension and apprehension to the idea of letting Regan and Jake date and she shared some of his worry as well but he did tend to get wrapped up in the dating situation with the girls a little bit more than she did.

"Do you really think that he loves her?" he asked.

She recalled every single moment that she had seen the two of them together. When Regan was in a room, Jake could not take his eyes off her even though he was the one who told her that they couldn't be together. Lulu couldn't help but to chuckle to herself as she thought of that old saying that girls end up with men like their fathers because she remembered Johnny looking at her in the same way years ago.

"I do…" she whispered.

"Come on…" he sighed, pulling her off the couch.

Lulu gave him a strange look as he led her upstairs. Regan was in the bathroom, already changed into her pajamas, and brushing her teeth. She turned around to face her parents, arms folded across her chest and an unhappy scowl on her lips.

"Why don't you invite Jake over for dinner next weekend?" Johnny asked.

Regan's face lit up at her father's suggestion and she practically launched herself into his arms in excitement, repeatedly thanking both of them for being understanding. Regan practically skipped back into her bedroom, anxiously awaiting the following weekend to arrive.

"That was very understanding of you…" Lulu said as Johnny climbed into their bed and he groaned.

"Yeah… I've just about run out of understanding…" he muttered.

"You know… you really can't help who you fall in love with… but for me, I'm glad that it was you, Zacchara…" she whispered as she wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes.

"I'm glad it was you too, Spencer…" he sighed.


	27. Leavin' on a Jet Plane

**A/N:** So I've gotten a lot of comments about where our favorite little troublemaker has disappeared off to :) so Christian is back! This one is short and sweet… emphasis on the sweet and I think you'll see why… I know that I say this all the time but I'm **so** glad that you guys are enjoying this series… so thanks for taking this journey with me!!

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**Leavin' on a Jet Plane**

"Surprise!"

Both Regan and Ava gasped as they walked into the ballroom at the MetroCourt hotel. The room was decorated with red, white and blue balloons and streamers for their respective school colors and was filled with all of their family and friends. Johnny and Lulu smiled as they were surrounded by their friends. Ava had worked hard in order to obtain admission to Stanford with Gavin while Regan was ecstatic to be attending Juilliard in the fall for dance.

"Congratulations… you two must be so proud…" Carly said, coming up to her cousin and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you so much, Carly…" Lulu said.

"So when do the girls leave for school?" Carly asked.

"We're all driving up to Manhattan next week to move Regan in and then from there we're going to fly to California to drop off Ava…" Johnny said as she took a sip of his champagne.

"How's Amalie enjoying school?" Lulu asked.

"She loves it… so much so that it's hard to get her home for the holidays…" Carly laughed.

"Oh, Regan and Ava are coming home… for every single holiday…" Johnny muttered.

Both Carly and Lulu laughed as Maxie waltzed up to them with Spinelli tagging along behind her. She hugged Lulu affectionately while Spinelli shook hands with Johnny. They all watched as both Jake and Gavin approached Regan and Ava and handed them their going away presents. Maxie practically squealed with delight as Ava launched herself into Gavin's arms after opening her gift.

"I know that Gavin is so excited that Ava is joining him at Stanford… it's all he's been talking about since she made her decision in May…" Maxie chirped.

"Yes… Ava is just as excited too…" Lulu said.

"So do you know what Regan and Jake are going to do when she leaves for Manhattan?" Carly asked as she noticed the young couple talking quietly in a corner of the ballroom.

"Oh, both Stone Cold and Fair Samantha told me that Junior Stone Cold was looking at apartments on the Upper West Side near the campus…" Spinelli said and Johnny's eyes immediately widened.

"Only for weekend visits…" Lulu said as she put her hand on Johnny's shoulder, trying to ease his obvious tension.

"So I'm guessing that Christian is excited about the girls leaving and having the house all to himself…" Maxie said.

Johnny looked around for their eleven year old son and was surprised when he couldn't spot him anywhere. Christian had been uncharacteristically quiet for the past few weeks leading up to the twins' surprise party. The merciless teasing about their boyfriends and other things had all but stopped and he practically sulked as they did all of the dorm shopping and prepared for the twins' transition to college.

_If he didn't know any better, he would think that Christian was actually upset at the fact that his two sisters were leaving for college._

Johnny excused himself from the conversation and went in search for his son. He walked past the door to the terrace and caught a glimpse of Ava and Gavin kissing. He did a quick tour of the entire ballroom but couldn't find Christian anywhere. Passing by the men's bathroom, Johnny heard a muffled cry and he pushed the door open. Christian quickly looked up and wiped his eyes on the back of his hand, not wanting his father to see him cry.

"Hey buddy… you doing ok?" Johnny asked and Christian quickly nodded his head.

"I'm fine…" Christian muttered.

Johnny gave his son a knowing look and Christian sighed, admitting that he was lying. Even though Christian mocked and teased his older sisters and they did the same right back, Christian adored his older sisters. They had been his protectors, his playmates and in many ways, his two best friends. Johnny took a seat next to him and put his hand on his knee.

"I know that you're going to miss them…" Johnny said.

"No I won't…" Christian asserted and Johnny chuckled.

"It's ok if you do…" Johnny said.

"I'm not going to miss them…" Christian insisted.

"Come on… they should be cutting the cake soon and I know that your mother is going to want to take a picture with all of us in front of it…" Johnny said, nudging his son's shoulder.

Both Johnny and Christian stood up and Christian straightened out his blue polo shirt and black slacks. Johnny kissed the top of his son's head and ruffled up his hair slightly. Christian cringed at the affectionate gesture but Johnny just laughed. They walked back into the ballroom and as Johnny predicted, Lulu immediately pulled them over for a photo op with the cake. Christian quietly took his slice of cake and went back to their table while Ava and Regan hugged their parents and thanked them for throwing them a surprise party.

"Let me guess… gifts from the boyfriends?" Lulu asked, pointing to Regan's necklace and Ava's bracelet.

Ava had on a beautiful sterling silver Tiffany's bracelet with a simple heart shaped charm. Ava lifted her wrist delicately to show her mother the inscription on the charm. Right in the center of the heart, in perfect cursive, were the words "Je t'aime". Since Maxie took Gavin to Paris for fashion week every year, he was fluent in French and Ava pretty much melted whenever he spoke it around her. When Lulu caught a glimpse at Regan's necklace, she couldn't help but to laugh. Regan's necklace was also silver but hanging from the chain was a diamond encrusted motorcycle charm. It was probably the closest thing that she was going to get to an actual motorcycle despite the fact that Jake had his own garage where he fixed up old bikes and built new ones.

"Very nice…" Johnny said.

"What's wrong with Chris?" Regan asked, discretely pointing in Christian's direction.

"Yeah… he hasn't been himself lately…" Ava commented and they all watched Christian pick at his cake absently.

"He won't admit it but he's having a tough time dealing with the fact that you two are leaving…" Johnny said.

"I'm going to miss that little terror too…" Regan said and Lulu chuckled.

"Bratty and obnoxious as he is… I'm going to miss him too…" Ava said.

"Well… I don't think that it would hurt to tell him that…" Johnny suggested.

Sighing, both Regan and Ava walked over to their little brother. At first, Christian tried to brush them off, pouting and telling them that he was fine, but when his sisters enveloped him in their arms, he softened and hugged them right back. Lulu laughed quietly as she watched the scene unfold before her eyes and Johnny put his hand on the hollow of her back.

"We did a good job with them, didn't we?" she asked.

"Yeah… we really did…" he said.


	28. Let There Be Love

**A/N:** So when I started writing this one, I intended it to be a lighter/funnier little piece but then I totally veered off into another direction because I figured that with the twins off at college, I would think that JoLu would go back towards that romantic/passionate relationship that they had before… it just gave me an excuse to write something romantic and sappy :) but then I went back to lighter at the end… so this is all over the place… Oh and I'm making the trailer for my new series and I was wondering if anyone knew where I can find clips of Lulu and Dillon since Dillon will be the other man in the story! But as always, thanks for leaving fabulous comments for me! I love and read them all!!

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**Let There Be Love**

"Do you hear that?"

Johnny barely even looked up from his magazine as he opened up his ears but he heard nothing. The house was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Things had definitely quieted down at the Zacchara house with the twins off at college. Christian had adjusted fairly well to the change and within a few weeks, he was back to acting like the spoiled little prince that he was. However, it took the parents a little bit longer to adjust without their girls around.

_Especially Johnny._

"I don't hear anything…" Johnny sighed.

"Exactly… we have the entire house to ourselves for the day…" Lulu said.

She took the magazine out of his hand and set it down on their coffee table. She slid into his arms softly and he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his nose into her golden tresses. She knew that he was missing Ava and Regan. Since the day that they were born, their children had been his entire life. It had been the most important role that he had ever had and to have a chapter in that journey to come to an end had been sad. She felt him sigh as his hands ran up her back.

"I know…" she murmured.

He lifted his head to look at her and she smiled at him sadly. Her fingertips ran through his hair, which now had small flecks of grey in it that reflected his age. He closed his eyes as her hands came to his face and she gently kissed the top of his head. She never liked to see him upset. His pain was her pain.

"They're going to be home soon… Thanksgiving is only a month away…" she said, attempting to soothe him.

"Yeah…" he sighed.

She kissed his forehead again and she gently pushed herself off him and onto her feet. Christian was out with a friend for a few hours and it was close to dinner time. She started towards the kitchen when Johnny's hand came out and gently took her by the wrist. She could feel her heart flutter at his touch and she turned back around to face him. His eyes were down towards the floor but his hand was holding onto hers like a lifeline.

"Stay…" he whispered.

She nodded and allowed him to pull her back towards him until she gently fell back into his lap. His fingers dove into her hair, softly running them through her loose curls. She pressed her forehead to his and exhaled. She wasn't ok with the fact that her girls were grown up and off in the real world either. She could remember when she put the girls into Johnny's arms for the first time but she knew that they were going to be ok.

They had to be ok.

She closed her eyes as he began trailing kisses along her jawbone. Her hands delicately ran though his hair as his found the bottom of her dress. His lips traveled south, down her neck and then to her collarbone, and she slowly began to lose the ability to breathe. His lips were so soft and heavenly against her skin that she thought that she just might die. She gasped as he pulled her closer so that she was sitting astride him on the couch. She held his face in her hands, studying his features carefully. After all these years, she could still see the same light in his eyes that she had fallen in love with years ago. He rose to meet her lips with his own and he swiftly turned her over so that she was lying beneath him. She peeled off his button up shirt and tossed the unnecessary garment aside. There definitely was a plus to having most of the kids out of the house because they probably couldn't get away with this. He pulled her off the couch and she quickly shimmied out of her dress. Taking in her appearance, he immediately pulled her towards him and wrapped her legs around his waist. Her lips met his with such a fury, needing him as much as he needed her.

"Please…" he begged.

His voice was thick with desire but wasn't louder than a whisper. She nodded and she freed them both from the rest of the clothes that they had on. Before the last piece could hit the floor, he had buried himself inside of her. She had thrown her head back and gasped as he held her there, trying with all of her might not to buck wildly against him. He gently brought her up to meet his lips and she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close. He took the opportunity to turn the two of them back over so that she was sitting astride his waist, hands urging her on. She bent over and pressed a sweet and lingering kiss to his lips before she braced herself against the smooth planes of his chest. Her golden curls hung loose at her shoulders and partially in front of her face and bounced and swayed with their movements. His gaze bore into her, pleading for release, which came quickly and she collapsed onto his chest. He wrapped his arms around his wife as he breathed deeply, trying to recover from the exertion.

"I am never going to leave you, Johnny…" she whispered against his skin and she felt his arms squeeze her tighter.

"I know…" he sighed, offering a small smile.

She leaned in and kissed him again. His arms began pulling her closer until they heard the sound of the front door opening and they both sat up abruptly. Christian was home sooner than they expected.

"Mom? Dad? Are you guys home?" Christian called out.

"Oh sh—" Johnny started but Lulu clasped her hand over his mouth before he could finish.

"Shhhh!" she hissed.

She quickly hopped off the couch and began gathering all of their clothes off the floor. She quickly tossed his clothes towards him as she wrapped a blanket around herself. She tiptoed over towards the door and picked up her dress.

"Doesn't seem like my parents are home so why don't we head on into the living—oh my god!" Christian shouted.

Lulu's face turned bright red and Johnny quickly pulled a blanket over himself. Beside Christian was his best friend, Evan Winters-Desmond, Lainey Winters' son. Christian had turned ghostly white while Evan's eyes widened as he looked at his friend's mother clad in only a throw blanket.

"We're—we're going to head up—upstairs…" Christian stammered, pulling Evan out of the living room.

Lulu could hear Johnny chuckling over by the couch and she quickly threw a pillow at him to shut him up. She could've just died from embarrassment. This was one thing that she never wanted Christian to walk in on. Johnny laughed as she rejoined him back on the couch.

"Dude… your mom is hot…" Evan muttered as Christian dragged him out of the living room.

"Shut up, Evan!" Christian hissed.

This time, both Johnny and Lulu laughed.


	29. Butterflies

**A/N:** So I have some good news and some bad news… and the bad news isn't all that bad… First is the "bad" news… I've finally found a stopping point for this series… after this chapter, there are going to be seven more installments to tie up some loose ends… and they're going to be so sweet and sappy that you might just go into a coma from all of the fluff that I'm dishing out :) Now the good news! I've finally finished the prologue for my new series! I'm not going to post it until I finish the trailer, which is giving me a difficult time so please send me good creative energy in regards to the trailer! Because the sooner that it gets done, the faster I'll post! Alright, happy reading and keep the comments coming!!

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**Butterflies**

"You don't have to come, you know?"

Lulu took a look at her fourteen year old son and rolled her eyes. He was at that age where he was embarrassed by every single thing that his parents did. He folded his arms across his chest as he waited for Johnny to get his blazer.

"God, when did you get to be so big?" Lulu muttered as she gently touched Christian's cheek.

"Ugh, Mom!" he groaned, immediately pushing her hand away and she giggled softly.

He was growing like a weed. He was almost as tall as she was and he was looking more like Johnny every single day. Christian's dark brown hair was cropped short and modeled off his father's hairstyle. He had a lean build, most likely from his love of soccer and hockey, and of course he had inherited his father's trademark smirk. All mothers thought that their kids were the best looking but there was no question when it came to Christian.

_Lulu knew, without a doubt, that she had a fantastic looking kid..._

And everyone began to notice him too, especially the girls at his school. As soon as he hit his fourteenth birthday, girls began calling the house. Johnny, being the proud father he was, looked on as Christian began interacting with girls while Lulu had a mini panic attack every single time a little girl would call the house asking for Christian. Johnny said that it was karmic justice for all of the headaches that the twins had put him through.

"Ready to go?" Johnny asked as he pulled on his blazer.

"Yes…" Christian said, headed towards the door.

"Are you coming with us to drop him off?" Johnny asked his wife and Lulu looked Christian for an answer. She quickly got it as he shook his head.

"No, I think I'll sit this one out… besides, it's probably the one weekend that the girls aren't attached to their boyfriends' hips this entire summer so I'll make the most of it…" Lulu said.

"Speaking of the girls… I know that they wanted to see you off tonight… they're so excited for you…" Johnny said and Christian blushed furiously.

"Dad…" Christian grumbled but his father ignored him

"Regan! Ava! We're leaving!" Johnny called upstairs.

Regan and Ava immediately appeared at the top of the stairs upon hearing their father's words. They were home for the summer, per Johnny's request of course. If it was hard to believe that Christian was now a teenager, it was next to impossible to think that the Zacchara girls were now twenty years old and about to start their junior year of college. Regan and Ava could barely contain their excitement for their little brother and Christian winced as they both gave him kisses on his cheek.

"Ugh, gross! Can we go now?" Christian whined as he wiped his face of any traces of his sisters' lips.

"Aww… so we can't wish you good luck on your first real date?" Ava chuckled.

"No!" Christian yelled and the girls laughed.

"Alright… enough teasing your brother… have fun…" Lulu said, ushering both Christian and Johnny out the door.

Lulu watched from the dining room as Johnny pulled out the car and sped out of sight. It was hard to watch her baby go on his first real date. She sighed and folded her arms across her chest, wanting to have gone with Johnny to drop Christian off at the movies. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Lulu turned around and saw Regan, with Ava at her side, jingling her car keys in front of her mother.

"Let's go spy on him…" Regan snickered.

Against her better judgment, Lulu piled into Regan's small sports car. Surely Christian would never forgive her if he caught her spying on him on his date but she couldn't help herself. She just wanted to see that he was ok. Regan was an expert at staying under the radar behind Johnny's car, a skill acquired when she was sneaking off to meet Jake Morgan most likely. The three of them watched as Christian hopped out of his father's car and walked over to a petite brunette.

"That must be Christian's date…" Ava whispered.

She turned around and smiled upon seeing Christian. She gave him a warm hug and Lulu heard her daughters sigh dreamily, thinking that the two of them looked positively adorable together. Christian's face immediately lit up as the young girl embraced him and she smiled.

"Who is she?" Regan asked, turning towards her mother.

"Angelina Barrett… she and Brenda moved back here after Brenda's divorce from that Italian vineyard owner…" Lulu said.

"Hey, she's half Italian and we're half Italian! If they got married, we could totally have one of those authentic Italian weddings!" Ava cried excitedly and Regan shook her head.

"If you're not planning your own wedding, you're planning someone else's…" Regan muttered.

Lulu began to say something when she saw Christian take Angelina's hand and they began walking along the mall towards the movie theater. Christian had always been such a charismatic boy. He carried himself with confidence, with a hint of arrogance, that outshone everybody. However, to see him to be completely awestruck by someone was different.

"He really likes her… I can tell…" Ava sighed.

"I think so too…" Lulu said with a smile.

"Yeah… but she better treat him right or else she's going to have the three of us to deal with…" Regan said, folding her arms, and Ava nodded in agreement.

"Don't you think that you guys should be heading home?"

All three of them blanched at the voice and turned around to see that Johnny had pulled up beside their car. Johnny frowned disapprovingly and they all smiled sheepishly, knowing that they were caught. Regan and Ava giggled nervously and tried to put the charm on their father but he just shook his head.

"You should leave before Christian spots you… you know that he'll never forgive you guys if he finds out that you staked out his first date…" Johnny chided them.

"Fine…" Regan sighed as she started up the ignition.

"Oh and Lulu?" Johnny asked.

"Y—Yes?" Lulu stammered.

"I told Christian that you would pick him up at ten-thirty… I hope that's ok…" he said and Regan nudged her mother as Ava giggled in the back seat.

"Thank you…" Lulu whispered.


	30. On Bended Knee

**A/N**: I'm so glad that you guys are enjoying this series! Yes, I'm a bit sad that it's winding down within the next six chapters but it has to end sometime… and I really want to put most of my energy into the new series that I'm working on… so, this one is dedicated to Faith (**SCBYLUVSJUJU**) because she was the one who gave me the idea of writing this scene…I think that you guys will like it… maybe you'll get the hint from the title ;) Happy reading!!!

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**On Bended Knee**

"Who could that be?"

Both Lulu and Johnny looked up at the sound of the doorbell ringing. Lulu rose from the couch but Johnny held onto her hand. He pulled her back on top of him and she couldn't help but to giggle. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his nose in her hair.

"We're not home…" Johnny muttered against his wife's skin.

Lulu responded by pressing her lips to his. She planned on not answering the door but the visitor was adamant about seeing the Zaccharas. The visitor kept ringing the doorbell and knocking until she couldn't stand it anymore. She sighed and rose to her feet, leaving Johnny to pout on the couch. She laughed as she waltzed over to the front door and was surprised to see that the person who was at the door was none other than Jake Morgan.

"Oh! Jake… what a nice surprise…" Lulu said.

She took in her daughter's twenty-six year old boyfriend's appearance and couldn't help but to smile. Gone were his signature leather jacket and jeans and in their places were a nice light blue button up shirt that brought out the intensity of his piercing blue eyes and a pair of black slacks. The only thing that was familiar about his appearance was his neatly styled chocolate brown hair.

"Hi, Mrs. Zacchara… I hope I'm not interrupting anything…" Jake said.

"No… nothing at all…" Johnny grumbled and Lulu shot him a look that made him purse his lips.

"May I come in?" Jake asked.

Lulu showed the young man into their living room. Johnny watched as Jake took a seat across from him, eyeing him skeptically, wondering what he could possibly want. Lulu walked back over to the couch and took a seat beside her husband, linking her arm with his. She always chided him for still being wary of Jake Morgan despite the fact that he and Regan had been together for almost five years but Johnny would always be dubious of the men in his daughters' lives.

"Regan's not here, you know…" Johnny said, raising and eyebrow.

Jake chuckled nervously and nodded as he played with his hands. Beside him, Johnny could hear Lulu trying to stifle a giggle because neither of them had ever seen Jake act so nervously before. Jake, probably taking after his father, came off as being brooding, tortured, aloof and a bit mysterious, which probably led to all of the intrigue that surrounded him.

"Yes I know… she's at an audition right now… that's not why I'm here… I'm here—I'm here to talk to the two of you, actually…" Jake said anxiously.

"Well then, what can we do for you?" Lulu asked as Johnny reached for the glass of water that was sitting on the coffee table and Jake took a deep breath as if to prepare himself for what he was about to say.

"I'd like… to ask Regan to marry me…" Jake said.

Johnny immediately began choking upon hearing that Jake Morgan wanted to marry one of their little girls, and Lulu gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. This was definitely the last thing that they expected to happen today. Johnny coughed, trying to clear his throat, and Lulu pinched his leg in order to make him stop making a scene.

_Their little Regan… married?_

Yes, she was going to graduate from Julliard in the spring and yes, technically, she was twenty-two, but marriage? He had just gotten used to the idea of her staying in Manhattan after graduation to pursue her dream of becoming a professional dancer and now he had to wrap his mind around her getting married? He pressed his fingertips to his temple and sighed. The room was spinning and he was sure that the floor had disappeared beneath him and he was in a state of freefall. There was absolutely no way that this was happening.

"You're—You're going to propose?" Lulu stammered, as Johnny had lost all ability to form a coherent sentence, and Jake nodded his head.

"I'm taking her out to dinner next weekend to celebrate her graduation… I'm—I'm planning to do it then…" Jake said.

Johnny saw Jake reach into his pocket and he pulled out a black ring box. He watched as Lulu opened the box and saw the ring that would soon belong to their daughter. Set on a gold band, it had a teardrop diamond with two smaller round diamonds flanking the sides. Lulu gently touched the center stone as it glimmered in the afternoon sun and Johnny could see her eyes starting to water.

"It's beautiful…" Lulu sighed, handing the box over to Johnny so that he could have a better look.

"It belonged to my great-grandmother…" Jake said softly.

Johnny held the box in his fingertips, looking at the three stone ring as it caught the light. It was a bit overwhelming to see the ring that would be on his daughter's hand for presumably the rest of her life. He could picture his daughter's face lighting up and saying yes over and over again as soon as she caught sight of the ring. He knew that she was going to say yes.

"Well, Jake… it's not the nineteenth century… you don't have to ask for our permission to marry Regan…" Lulu chuckled.

"Yes, I know… but I love Regan… more than I thought was possible and I want to spend the rest of my life with her, making her happy… and I know that having her parents' blessing… would mean the world to her…." Jake said.

Lulu looked to Johnny, as if she was waiting for him to respond to Jake. He stared back down at the vintage ring and sighed. He knew that this day would come. He knew that the day when some other man would eclipse him as the most important man in his daughter's life and it was bittersweet. He hated it but he knew how much Regan wanted this. He knew how much she wanted this boy that was sitting a few feet in front of him. He quickly snapped the box shut and handed it back to Jake.

_Regan would be in good hands with him._

"And you have it… our blessing that is…" Johnny finally said, offering Jake a smile.

Lulu smiled and threw her arms around her future son-in-law, not even trying to hold back her tears of joy. After Jake had been released from Lulu's fierce hug, Johnny shook his hand, officially welcoming him into the family. Jake assured his soon to be in-laws that he would take care of their daughter and continued to thank them even as he was walking out the door to return to Manhattan.

"Did you ask my father for permission?" Lulu asked as she curled up against him on the couch and he laughed.

"Of course I did… but I wasn't nervous like Jake because I knew that Luke would say yes…" he said confidently and she rolled her eyes at his bravado.

"You were that sure?" she asked, skeptically.

"Yes I was… but I wasn't prepared for the crushing blow that you dealt…" he laughed.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"You thought that I was joking!" he chuckled and Lulu blushed furiously.

"Hey! I said yes though, didn't I?" she pointed out.

"Yes… you did… and I'll be forever grateful for that…" Johnny whispered as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.


	31. Speed Demon

**A/N:** My apologies for the tardiness of this chapter… I started it awhile ago and then I had one of those periods where you have about a zillion things to do and the time just slips away…. I've had a crazy past 2 weeks with family friends over my house, packing stuff to go back to school and then unpacking all of my stuff now that I'm back at school! But this chapter is finally done! Yay! Happy reading and don't forget to leave one of your lovely comments :)

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**Speed Demon**

"Can I open my eyes yet?"

Lulu giggled as she led her sixteen year old son, hands shielding his eyes, towards the window. Christian groaned at his mother's insistence that his eyes remained covered and Johnny chuckled. Regan and Ava laughed alongside of their father as they all crowded in front of their dining room window.

"Now can I open my eyes?" Christian asked again.

"I don't know… what do you think, Johnny?" Lulu joked, turning towards her husband.

"I don't know either… I don't know if he's ready for this…" Johnny chuckled.

"Stop teasing me!" Christian cried.

"Ok, stop torturing him before he has a fit…" Regan laughed.

"Alright…" Lulu said.

She removed her hands from his eyes and Christian's jaw dropped. Sitting in front of their house was a brand new black Lotus Elise for their son. Christian did what looked like a quadruple-take between looking at the car and his parents, completely in disbelief that the car in the driveway was for him.

"Happy birthday, Christian!" they all cheered.

"No way… no freaking way!" Christian cried.

Johnny held up the set of car keys and jingled them in front of his son's face, with a huge smile. With the realization that the car did belong to him now, Christian immediately snatched the keys from his father's fingertips and ran outside. It was his sixteenth birthday and he was finally allowed to start driving. His appointment at the DMV was scheduled for tomorrow morning to take the written test and he had been doing driver's education religiously in order to prepare for it.

"I can't believe it! A Lotus Elise? I thought that I was going to get some crappy used car…" Christian laughed as he circled the car, taking in every inch of its exterior.

"My son? Driving a used car? I don't think so…" Johnny said triumphantly.

In fact, all three of the Zacchara children had received brand new cars on their sixteenth birthday. Ava got a flashy red Jaguar convertible while Regan received the white Lexus SUV hybrid that she had been coveting. Of course many people thought that the Zacchara kids were spoiled beyond belief but Johnny and Lulu knew that they had good kids and little indulgences wouldn't hurt.

"How did you know that I wanted this car?" Christian asked.

"The car magazines in your room and you had a poster of this exact car on your wall… we thought that the Maserati and the Aston Martin were a little bit too expensive for a first car…" Lulu chuckled.

"Yeah, we'll save that one for your twenty-first birthday…" Johnny said, nudging Christian's shoulder and the girls both laughed.

"Can I take it out? Just around the corner? I promise that I won't get a scratch on it… please?" Christian pleaded.

Christian's eyes flitted between his parents and Johnny looked to his wife for her decision. She sighed and offered a small smile, silently agreeing to let her son get behind the wheel of his very own car for the first time. Christian practically squealed out of delight and rushed over to the driver's side.

"Yeah, but who's going with him?" Ava laughed.

Both Lulu and Johnny blanched as it dawned upon them that one of them had to go with Christian on his first time behind the wheel of a car. Who was going to get into the passenger seat and head out with Christian?

"Want us to flip a coin?" Regan snickered.

"No… I'll go… driving is a father-son type of thing…" Johnny said proudly.

"Alright…" Lulu laughed, pushing him towards the car.

He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around his wife's waist. He could hear their daughters giggling behind them, still amused at how loving their parents were with each other when most couples their age lost their spark ten years ago. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and he climbed into the passenger seat. The three women backed away from the car as they watched Johnny show Christian the different parts of the car. The engine started up and they backed out of the driveway slowly. Christian flashed his mother and his sisters a confident smirk and immediately stepped on the gas, making the tires screech as he sped around the corner. Regan and Ava burst out into laughter as they walked back into the house.

"Oh look! They're back!"

Thirty minutes had passed since Johnny and Christian had taken off and now they had just pulled back into the driveway. Ava, who had seen the pair return to the house, raced to the door to greet her father and her younger brother. Christian climbed out of the car triumphantly, clearly still riding the high of receiving his very first car. Johnny, however, was a bit pale from the experience and the three women couldn't help but to giggle. Regan and Ava followed their younger brother back inside of the house, listening to their little brother recount the experience.

"So, how'd he do?" Lulu laughed, putting her arm around her husband's waist.

"Oh god… it was horrifying… the kid drives like a maniac…" Johnny sighed and Lulu let out a loud and hearty laugh.

"That means that he drives like you!" Lulu said as her laughter took over her voice.

"I resent that! I do not drive like a crazy person!" Johnny cried and she gave him a knowing look.

"You do… you so do, Johnny! When you picked me up that first night, I don't think you ever went lower than eighty and you were cutting people off and going around people… and don't even get me started on your road rage…" Lulu chuckled.

"Hey, that was years ago… I've gotten better… especially when we had to tow those three around town…" he said, gesturing towards the house, referring to their children.

Lulu rolled her eyes and began walking towards the house but Johnny's hand caught hers and he pulled her back into his arms. His arms wrapped around her waist and he began peppering small kisses along her neck and her cheekbone. She giggled and sighed softly as she relaxed into his embrace.

"You know what we haven't done in a while?" he muttered against her skin.

"What?" she asked.

"We haven't gone out for a drive in so long… we used to go out for drives all the time, remember?" he whispered in between kisses.

"Of course I remember… but we're not twenty-two anymore…" she said, savoring the feeling of his lips against her skin, and he chuckled.

"So what?" he asked.

She pulled away from him and met his gaze. That wicked boyish glint in his eye was there and that smirk that she loved so much was curling across his lips. He knew that she could never say no to him. She slowly ran her hand up his thigh and she could feel his heartbeat accelerate almost instantly and she grinned back at him. She plucked his car keys out of his pocket and dangled them in front of his nose.

"The yellow Mustang…" she whispered.

"As if there were any other car that I'd take you out in…" he murmured.

She took him by the hand as they practically ran into the garage, looking like two giddy teenagers. They were met with their three kids, staring at them with eyebrows raised. They ignored the questioning expressions of their children and climbed into Johnny's prized vintage yellow Mustang.

"Seriously, don't you two ever get sick of each other?" Regan joked.

Johnny and Lulu looked at each other and laughed. To be bored or sick of each other was just unfathomable to the two of them. Every single day had been better than the day before. How could one get tired of a life that just got better and better with each passing day? Johnny reached over to the glove compartment and pulled out a pair of his sunglasses while Lulu took down her out of her ponytail.

"Never…" they both replied in unison before they took off.


	32. Blue Moon

**A/N**: Again, sorry for the delay with this chapter… I had the hardest time trying to figure out how to end this chapter for some strange reason but it's finally finished! Thanks for all of your wonderful comments and keep them coming! There are only going to be a few more chapters left!!

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**Blue Moon**

The sound of the front door slamming jolted Lulu out of her slumber. Johnny sat up quickly, took one look at the fearful expression on his wife's face and immediately pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"What was that?" she gasped, putting a hand over her heart.

"I don't know… stay here while I check it out…" he said as his overprotective nature came through his stern voice.

She nodded as he slid out of bed and pulled his robe on. He closed the bedroom door behind him and crept down the stairs, careful not to make a sound. Judging from the direction of the noise was now coming from, the intruder was now in the kitchen. Johnny went to the hall closet to get the gun that was stashed inside for emergencies and concealed it underneath his robe. He tiptoed towards the kitchen and suddenly Johnny heard a glass shatter and the intruder swore loudly.

"Damn it!"

And that's when Johnny knew that the gun was unnecessary. This was no burglar. He let out an annoyed groan and strolled into the kitchen only to see his seventeen year old son trying to pick up the glass shards off their kitchen floor. On the counter was a bottle of Johnny's favorite scotch. Johnny cleared his throat, letting his presence be known to Christian, and Christian immediately stumbled backwards.

"Dad!" Christian gasped.

Johnny set the gun on the counter and folded his arms across his chest, staring at Christian with that disappointed father look that got to all three of his kids. Christian looked from his dad to the gun and then back to him again and a smile passed across the young man's face.

"Would you really shoot me, dad?" Christian giggled.

"You scared me and your mother half to death when you came in… you could've been a burglar or worse for all we knew… and what in the _**hell**_ are you doing with my bottle of scotch?" Johnny asked, holding up the bottle of liquor in his hand.

"Would you believe me if I told you that I thought that it was apple juice?" Christian asked before he began laughing again.

"Oh my god… Chris, are you drunk?" Johnny asked.

"Maybe a little bit…" Christian sighed, leaning against the counter.

Johnny pressed his fingertips to his temple and groaned as Christian erupted into a fit of laughter again. Johnny hoped that Lulu would just stay put upstairs so that she wouldn't see Christian like this. Even though she had done things a thousand times worse at his age, Lulu still regarded Christian like he was still her little precious little boy and who knew how she would react to seeing her baby boy completely smashed and reeking of cheap liquor.

"Oh my god! Chris?"

_Too late._

"Mommy!" Christian squealed and he launched himself into his mother's arms.

Lulu looked down at her son and then to her husband and Johnny winced as Lulu shot him a look of concern. _This was so not good._

"Oh my god, you scared us both half to death when you came in!" Lulu said before pressing a kiss to Christian's forehead.

"Sorry about that… I was trying to be _suuuper_ quiet…" Christian muttered.

Her eyes then narrowed as she began to scrutinize her son's face and then she looked from him to the bottle of scotch on the counter and the back to her son's glazed over expression. As soon as he saw her nostrils flare, Johnny immediately knew that one of Lulu's meltdowns was imminent.

"Christian? Are you—_are you drunk_?" she cried.

"I think so…" Christian mused.

Lulu immediately pushed him out of the kitchen and onto one of the dining room chairs. Johnny groaned and followed the two of them into the next room. He was sure that they were going to get a call from one of their neighbors about the noise because Lulu was yelling furiously at their son for drinking well underage.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't ground you until you turn forty! I hope that you didn't drive home in this state either!" she shrieked.

"You're going to kick me when I'm already down, mom?" Christian asked softly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Angelina dumped me tonight…" he lamented as he buried his face into his hands.

"Wait… what?" Lulu asked.

"Angelina broke up with you?" Johnny asked.

Christian looked up at his parents and they both saw one lone tear roll down their son's face. They knew that their son was a bit of a wild child but they never expected to see him this out of control. He was always sneaky and cunning with his antics, never sloppy and he definitely never got caught doing something that he shouldn't have been doing. It wasn't like him to return home completely trashed so they both knew that something had to be wrong. Johnny sighed and sat down next to Christian, putting a hand on his shoulder, while Lulu knelt down before him.

"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry… what happened?" Lulu asked, gently brushing away the tears on her son's face.

"She spent the summer in Capri with her father and she met some Greek shipping heir and now… now she wants to be with him…" Christian sighed.

"How Paris Hilton of her…" Johnny muttered.

"So you thought that it was a good idea to drink yourself into oblivion?" Lulu cried.

"I don't know! I just didn't—I just didn't want to feel anything, ok?" Christian sobbed.

To see Christian so torn up about Angelina was surprising to the two adults. With his charisma and his personality, they automatically assumed that he was being young and playing the field with a number of girls. Christian was the type of guy who drew people to him with his energy and he was incredibly likeable.

_They didn't expect to deal with a broken heart so early with him._

Lulu wrapped her arms around her son and kissed the top of his hair as she tried to console him. Johnny looked over at his wife and thought that she secretly loved this entire ordeal because Christian was curled up next to her, allowing her to hold him and comfort him like she had done when he was little.

"Chris… drinking is not going to solve your problems… not now and certainly not when you're actually **allowed** to drink when you turn twenty-one." Johnny said, calmly reminding his son that he was still underage.

Christian looked up at his father and nodded. Johnny and Lulu sent him straight upstairs to bed, deciding not to give him his punishment that night when he probably wouldn't remember it in the morning. As soon as Christian was out of earshot, Lulu began fuming.

"Who does that girl think she is? Breaking my poor Chris' heart!" Lulu cried and Johnny chuckled.

"Hey… everyone has to experience their first broken heart… we all go through one…" he said and she immediately raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? What was her name?" she asked, folding her arms, and he laughed.

"Bianca Rossi… she was the daughter of one of my father's business associates… her family came down to Milan to spend the summer with us when I was sixteen when our dads were working together…" he said.

"Dumped you after the summer was over?" she laughed.

"Actually… she dumped me for one of my cousins a month before the summer ended…" he mused and Lulu burst out laughing.

"Aww… poor baby… and you never recovered from that, did you?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I thought that I wouldn't… and then one night I saw this blonde hitchhiking on the side of the road…" he said, his voice suddenly becoming softer.

Lulu pressed her forehead to Johnny's and smiled. It was amazing that after all this time, he could still make her feel like the only woman in the world. She tilted his chin up towards her and kissed his lips softly. He responded eagerly and cupped her face in his hands.

"Do you think that Chris is going to be alright?" she asked and Johnny nodded his head.

"He's going to be fine… and besides, you have to go through it all in order to know when you've struck gold…" he said.

He was looking up at her with those adoring eyes and she felt her heart flutter. Despite the countless overtures and sweet sayings that had passed over his lips for the past twenty-five years, Lulu never got over her husband's tenderness. Johnny's arms instinctively came around her waist and she smiled and buried her nose into his salt-and-pepper hair.

"I'm glad that I have you…" she whispered.

"I'm glad that I have you too…" he said.


	33. In Love With a Girl

**A/N:** So I've been trudging away on this chapter and it's finally done! I had an idea of what I wanted this chapter to sound/look like and it just took way longer than I thought to translate my idea to an installment. So after this chapter, there are only three more chapters! I'm still trying to decide what the next chapter should be. I have my last two chapters mapped out perfectly but I'm stuck on where to go with the next chapter so if you have an idea of what you want see with our JoLu, definitely let me know! :) Happy reading and don't forget to leave comment!

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**In Love with a Girl**

"I always thought that she would've been first…"

Hearing his wife's musings, Johnny looked over at Lulu as they both sat at their table. She looked stunning in her floor length gown and her hair was in a loose but elegant bun that let a few of her golden curls fall softly to frame her face. His arm was resting on the back of her chair and he followed her eyes towards the couple that was dancing together on the floor.

"Well that's the beauty of having children… you think you've seen it all but they still manage to surprise you…" he said as he leaned in and put his chin on her shoulder.

She nodded and placed her hand on his cheek. Being the social event of the season, the grand ballroom of the Plaza hotel was buzzing with excitement from the preceding nuptials and the flashes from the multitude of photographers were going off in all directions. Johnny watched as the new husband held his wife close and he saw how she looked up into his eyes and smiled and Johnny found that he couldn't stop the tears from forming in his eyes.

"She looks so much like you on our wedding day…" Johnny whispered.

Lulu felt the tears slip from her husband's eyes as her fingertips rested on his cheeks as he watched Ava and Gavin share their first dance at their wedding. Ava's golden locks were pinned neatly into a bun with her mother's beautiful diamond encrusted hairpins that had belonged to Laura. Lulu was actually surprised when Ava chose a dress similar to the one that she had worn when she married Johnny. Granted that it was still a couture wedding dress that was done by an up-and-coming Italian fashion designer that Maxie had insisted on but anyone who had seen photos of Lulu in her dress could tell that Ava wanted to look like her mother on her special day.

"I can still remember that moment when I first saw you in your dress…" he mused.

"You started bawling… just like Gavin did…" she laughed, motioning to her new son-in-law, and he let out a small laugh.

Johnny kissed Lulu's fingertips and sighed. She turned around and cupped his face in her hands. She pressed her lips to his as she gently caressed the sides of his face. She knew that it wasn't easy for him to watch his daughters leave home and to find their way in the world without him and even though he was happy that his daughters were happy, it was incredibly difficult for Johnny to watch both Ava and Regan get married. Johnny had actually lost it when Regan got married a year and a half prior but was surprisingly well-composed for Ava's nuptials.

"Well one thing's for sure… Ava definitely certainly knows how to plan a flashy wedding…"

Johnny chuckled as he looked over Lulu's shoulder towards Regan. Still in her long flowing emerald bridesmaid dress, she was sitting a few chairs away from her parents and by her side with one arm draped around her waist was Jake Morgan, who looked slightly uncomfortable in his tuxedo. She smiled at her parents, still retaining that newlywed glow that she had been sporting for a year and a half, as Jake laced his fingers in between hers.

"I'm just so glad that they finally tied the knot…" Lulu said.

"Me too… I thought that Ava was never going to forgive me for getting married first…" Regan chuckled.

"Well, they might have gotten married sooner if she and Maxie hadn't decided to plan this colossal wedding…" Lulu said, gesturing all around the room, but Regan just shrugged.

"To each their own… as long as she's happy…" Regan mused.

Ava's high society wedding suited her just as Regan's small bohemian wedding had suited her tastes. Ava and Maxie had taken the reins on the planning and the event was surely going to dominate the society pages for at least the next few weeks since it was the Editor-in-Chief of Crimson's only son's wedding. As much as Ava loved being the center of attention and having the most lavish wedding that anyone could've ever dreamed of, looking at her as she danced with Gavin, none of the glitz and commotion that surrounded her seemed to affect her. She only had eyes for her husband.

"Looks like that's our cue…" Regan said, sliding her chair back.

Ava and Gavin's first dance came to a close and other family members began to filter onto the dance floor. Jake extended his hand out to Regan and she eagerly took it before leaving the table to join in. They were followed by the rest of Ava's bridesmaids, Nadia Cassadine and Reese Morgan included, and their respective dates for the evening. Maxie flitted onto the dance floor, dragging Spinelli along behind her, and Nikolas, Claudia, Robin, Patrick, Carly and Jax soon followed suit.

"Come on, Zacchara… you owe me a dance…" Lulu said as she stood up and he smiled.

"Anything for you…" he whispered as he snaked his arm around her waist.

They began walking over towards the floor when Johnny suddenly stopped. Wondering what had captured her husband's attention, Lulu turned towards whatever Johnny was looking at. Christian, who detested the amount of weddings that he had been forced to go to in the past two years, was staring at a young blond girl across the ballroom. After what the family had called "Hurricane Angelina" had wrecked emotional havoc on Christian for almost another eight months after their first breakup, everyone was convinced that Christian wouldn't date or show any interest in girls until he was at least twenty-five. But apparently, all he needed was a few months to recuperate.

"Who's that?" Johnny asked, pointing at the object of his son's affections.

"Oh, that's Ivy Quartermaine…" Lulu said.

"Quartermaine? As in the Quartermaine family?" he asked.

"Yes… that's what happens when Dillon Quartermaine is your father… you get the Quartermaine name…" she chuckled.

"Oh… is her mother that British model that he was married to or the Brazilian model that was right after her?" he asked and Lulu rolled her eyes.

"Her mother is British…" she muttered as she pulled him towards the dance floor.

Johnny pulled her in close and she wrapped her arms around his neck. The music was playing and the couples on the dance floor were happily moving along to the melody. He twirled her around gently and then pulled her back into his arms, making her giggle like she was nineteen again. She always liked dancing with him.

"Well, this should be our last wedding for a while..." Johnny said and Lulu laughed.

"I wouldn't say that… looking at Christian and Ivy, it looks like he might be asking for the engagement ring that she left for him very soon…" she laughed.

Johnny's head snapped up towards his son, who was now seated next to Ivy at one of the empty tables in the ballroom. She was coyly twirling her sleek blond hair around her fingers and smiling as she listened to Christian. Johnny's gaze narrowed on the young girl as she laughed, presumably responding to something that Christian had said, and Lulu rolled her eyes.

"Stop staring at him…" Lulu hissed.

"Aren't you concerned?" Johnny asked.

"Why would I be?" she asked.

"Something about that girl just doesn't sit right with me…" he said and Lulu rolled her eyes.

"This something that you're referring to is the fact that her father is Dillon Quartermaine, who you can't stand…" she chuckled.

"So you approve of this? Where's your usual mother bear protectiveness?" he asked.

"Johnny, they're just talking… if they were doing anything **beyond** that, then I'd be concerned…" she sighed.

"No, this is because she's Dillon's daughter… so she already gets your stamp of approval…" he hissed and she shook her head.

"Johnny, I love you… you know I do… but you're being so incredibly ridiculous right now… I'll let this slide because you're already wound up with Ava getting married and everything…" she chuckled.

He began to protest when a hand came behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. Johnny let go of Lulu's waist and turned around, meeting his newlywed daughter's giddy expression. His skeptical expression quickly melted away and he pressed a kiss to Ava's cheek.

"Mom, would you mind terribly if I stole daddy away for my father-daughter dance?" Ava asked.

"Of course not…" Lulu said, beaming.

"You know… I hope that Gavin and I can have a fraction of the happiness that you and daddy still have when we get older…" Ava said.

Johnny and Lulu looked at each other and smiled. It was true that most people considered their relationship to be the rarest of rare because the intensity and the passion that they had never waned. Most couples threw around the words forever and soulmates but they truly lived and breathed the sentiments. Lulu embraced her daughter, like she had done so many times before, and handed her off to her father for their dance. Never being the one to let things go, Johnny took Lulu by the waist and placed his lips near her ear.

"All I'm saying is that do you really want Dillon Quartermaine over for Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthday parties for the rest of our lives?" he whispered.

Lulu's gaze immediately snapped back towards the table where Christian and Ivy had been sitting but they had left their seats were now on the dance floor, right next to Regan and Jake. Lulu's eyes narrowed on the blond as she danced cheek-to-cheek with her son and her mouth immediately went dry.

"I'll go talk to him…" she said and Johnny smiled triumphantly.


	34. You Are Not Alone

**A/N:** I literally have the worst luck with my computer… I have been without the use of my computer for almost 2 weeks so I apologize for the delay :( So I decided to change up the order of these last few chapters. This one was supposed to be the next installment but I decided to bump it up in order to create what I have in mind for the final two installments! Musical inspiration for this chapter is "You Are Not Alone" by Michael Jackson, which is such a beautiful and moving song and it fits perfectly for the chapter… I actually really like how this chapter turned out so I hope you like it too! Happy reading and don't forget to leave a comment! :)

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**You Are Not Alone**

Lulu yawned as she tied her silk robe around her waist. Whatever possessed her to be up at two-thirty in the morning was beyond her. She sleepily made her way out of her bedroom and down the hallway to get a glass of water from the kitchen. It was in times like these when she envied how heavy of a sleeper Johnny was. After getting her glass of water, Lulu made her way back up the stairs and tiptoed past Christian's room. But an unfamiliar sound made her stop in her tracks and her eyes widened.

_Either she was sleepier than she thought or there was definitely a girl in her son's room._

Every motherly instinct that she had was screaming at her to just walk away and put it out of her mind but the door was cracked slightly and it was almost out of her control that her ear pressed up against the door. She heard a soft girlish giggle that clearly didn't belong to her eighteen year old son that was followed by the sound of the exchange of kisses.

"You can tell me the truth, Chris… I promise that I won't get mad… was I horrible?"

Lulu heard Christian laugh quietly at his guest's question. His laugh was so similar to his father's that it was eerie.

"I should be the one asking you that question, Ivy…" he said softly.

Lulu immediately grimaced to learn that it was Ivy Quartermaine that was with Christian. She was in Port Charles for the summer to spend time with her father and the rest of the Quartermaines. Lulu knew that the two of them had become close over the summer but it took every ounce of willpower to not burst into the room and to scold Christian for allowing Ivy to stay at the house when he clearly had not asked for permission, not that he would've gotten permission to have a girl in the house at this hour anyway. Hearing a loud snore coming from her bedroom, Lulu quickly looked towards her own bedroom and pressed her fingertips to her temple. Johnny was not going to be happy about this either.

"But you're more experienced and I'm clearly not and I just—I don't want to be bad…" Ivy lamented.

"How could you ever even _think_ that you were bad?" Christian asked, attempting to reassure her.

"Because I was upset about having to go back to London tomorrow night and this wasn't how I pictured my first time…" she said as her voice broke into a small sob.

Lulu's hand flew to her mouth, trying to suppress a gasp. _Her baby had just deflowered Ivy Quartermaine_.

"Hey… you promised…" Christian started and Ivy sniffled.

"I know… I know… no more tears tonight but…" she sighed.

"No… there are no 'buts'… because tomorrow doesn't exist for us while we're together, ok?" he said.

Lulu heard the two teens kiss again and she sighed. This was way too much for her to deal with at two-thirty in the morning. She needed at least another six hours of sleep in order to give an effective sermon to her son about his behavior. She silently retreated from her son's door and sleepily returned to her own bedroom.

"What's wrong with you?" Johnny asked, pouring a distracted Lulu a cup of coffee.

Eight hours had passed since she had stumbled upon Christian's little display upstairs and she still felt unsettled about her discovery. Johnny waved his hand in front of his wife's face in order to get her to stop staring into space and he laughed when she jumped back in her seat slightly.

"Nice to see you alive in there, Spencer…" he chuckled.

"I'm sorry… I'm just—out of it this morning…" she muttered.

"I would be out of it if I woke up at two-thirty and kept tossing and turning for the rest of the night…"he said pointedly.

She laughed nervously as Christian landed at the foot of the stairs with a resounding thud, presumably launching himself from the sixth stair. Johnny chuckled and Lulu shot him a disapproving look. Christian knew how much it bothered Lulu to scuff up the hardwood floors.

"Well, don't we look nice this morning? Breakfast?" Johnny laughed, holding out a plate of warm cinnamon rolls.

Christian was wearing a pair of seersucker slacks, a crisp white button up shirt, white tasseled loafers and a sharply tailored navy blazer, all presents from his Aunt Maxie who always presented the Zacchara kids with designer clothes for birthdays and Christmases. It was definitely a far cry from the jeans and t-shirts that he wore most of the time.

"Thanks but I'm going to be late… I'm meeting Ivy, Evan and Riley at the Yacht Club… the Quartermaines are throwing a farewell brunch for Ivy there… she's returning to London tonight…" Christian said, looking down as he put his watch on.

Lulu's eyes widened, immediately reminded of what she had witnessed just a few hours ago. Johnny told their son goodbye and Christian had almost made it to the door but she couldn't stand to keep quiet any longer.

"Chris… before you go… we need to have a talk…" she said.

"But I'm going to be late…" Christian complained.

"**Sit.**" Lulu growled, pointing to a nearby chair.

Heeding the ire in his mother's voice, Christian immediately sat, wondering what he did to warrant his mother's temper. Christian was not used to having his mother upset with him. He was her precious little baby that never did anything wrong.

"Lu? What's going on?" Johnny asked.

"Is there anything that you want to tell us, Christian?" Lulu asked, turning towards her son, hoping that she wouldn't have to say anything and he would just confess what happened.

Inheriting the trait from his father, Christian kept a strong poker face. There wasn't an ounce of fear on the young man's face, only a stoic expression that didn't betray a whisper of what was going on in his mind. Not even the scrutinizing glare of his mother would break Christian Zacchara.

"Lulu, what's this about?" Johnny asked as he folded his arms across his chest, wanting to be let in on this silent battle that the mother and son pair was waging before him.

"Ivy Quartermaine spent the night here last night…" Lulu said and all of the color immediately drained from Christian's face.

"What?" Johnny cried, rounding on his son.

She grimaced at Johnny's outburst, knowing that she had just unleashed a firestorm of discord in the house. She really didn't intend to have Johnny so upset but this was just too big for her to deal with on her own.

"Dad…" Christian started.

"You had a girl over here without our knowledge? You know that's against the rules…" Johnny warned.

"I love her." Christian said firmly.

Johnny's eyes widened at his son's declaration and Lulu immediately pressed her fingertips to her temple and groaned. She was hoping that he wouldn't say anything like that. She was finally understanding how her parents and Tracy must've felt when she went was younger and rebellious. This was definitely karma coming back to bite her.

"Chris… you're so young…" Lulu sighed.

"Not much younger than when you and dad met…" Christian fought back.

"This has nothing to do with me and your mom…" Johnny said.

"I know what you two think about Ivy… dad, you don't like her because she's Dillon's daughter… and mom, you don't like her because you don't want me to date anyone period!" Christian cried.

"That's not true… I just want you to not get so wound up now when you're so young… you got so invested into your relationship with Angelina and she broke your heart and I don't want to see you like that again…" Lulu explained but Christian shook his head fervently.

"This is different… **Ivy** is different… she loves me and I love her too… I know that I don't want to be with anyone else." He said.

For once, Lulu was at a loss for words. Her son… her baby… had transformed into a man right before her eyes. He stood before her with so much conviction and it dawned on her that he was no longer that little boy that buried his face in her golden curls as he fell asleep in her arms. He had grown.

"Now may I please go? It's Ivy's last day in Port Charles and I'm probably not going to see her until Christmas. You can ground me until I go to college when I get back but please… I don't want to waste a single second." Christian said, looking at his parents beseechingly.

Johnny looked to his wife and she saw that his eyes had softened. It was phenomenal to see how similar Christian was to his father. When Zacchara men fell in love, they fell hard and she could see it in her son's eyes. _Christian was in love_. Lulu sighed and gave Johnny a small nod.

"You can go…" Johnny sighed.

Christian exhaled and fished out his car keys out of his pocket as he headed towards the door. As the door shut, Lulu clasped her hands together and exhaled shakily but Johnny immediately put his hands on her shoulders. She squeezed her eyes tightly, willing her tears not to fall.

"Lulu…" he whispered.

"What—what if he decides to go to college abroad? What if he decides to go to school over there to be closer to her?" she asked.

"Then we'll both miss him… but he's—he's not little anymore… he's got to start making these decisions for himself…" he said before pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"The twins are both married and have moved away… Christian is going off to school next fall… god, what are we going to do when it's just us in this house?" she asked, looking up at her husband.

He lifted her chin towards him and pressed his lips down onto hers. If he could, he would kiss all of her tension and worry away and she loved him for that. As he pulled away, he curled her hair around her ear and his face suddenly became serious.

"Are you planning to leave me?" he asked and her eyes widened in shock.

"Of course not!" she cried.

"Do you still love me?" he asked, cupping her face in his hands.

"You know I do… you're the love of my life, Johnny…" she sobbed and he kissed her forehead as he wiped her eyes.

"And you're mine, Lulu… and that's how I know that we're going to be ok…" he whispered.

She immediately threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into his chest, and he held her. She never thought it was possible but she loved this man more and more every single day. With all of the turmoil that she had gone through in her life, Johnny had remained the one constant. He had been her rock since she was nineteen and now, almost thirty years later, he was still by her side.

_They were definitely going to be ok._


	35. Little Bitty Pretty One

**A/N:** After this chapter, there's only one more! :( It's so surreal when I look back on this piece and all of the moments that I wrote but I'm really happy with how everything turned out. I'm also going to post the prologue of my next long series soon! If not with the last chapter of this then soon after… also look out for a trailer for my new long series too! Ok, so a lot of you have been asking for this chapter and I finally had an urge to write it ;) I hope you like it! Happy reading!!

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**Little Bitty Pretty One**

"How did we ever do this?"

Johnny looked from the screaming toddler to his wife and back again. Lulu took a pink stuffed rabbit and waved it in front of the child, trying to make her stop her sobbing. However, Eden Georgiana Spinelli, the only grandchild of the respective Zacchara and Spinelli clans, was not having it. She wailed loudly and Lulu grimaced.

"We should be good at this! We had two of these!" she cried, completely exasperated.

"Yeah… but we were younger… _much younger_…" he said and Lulu's nostrils flared.

"Are you calling me old?" she fumed and Johnny immediately began to backpedal underneath his wife's cold glare.

"Of course not! And besides, what does that make me? I'm older than you, remember?" he said and she rolled her eyes.

Ava and Maxie were in Paris covering fashion week for Crimson and Gavin was busy with finishing his dissertation for the PhD program that he was enrolled in and couldn't provide the constant supervision of their two and a half year old daughter and when Spinelli had come down with a cold at the last minute, Johnny and Lulu immediately and enthusiastically volunteered to watch Eden for the week.

"Come on, sweetie… can you smile for your Grandpa Johnny?" he asked as he took the fussing child from his wife's arms.

But Eden was not having it. She wailed louder, making her little cheeks turn red, and Lulu cringed at the shrill cry that came from this tiny human being. Nothing was working. She had already eaten, been changed and had every single toy that Ava had packed for her taken out. She and Johnny had even pulled every single funny face that they could think of, some of them spooking the little girl even more, but it was no use. She didn't even want to play with Lulu's treasured necklaces that usually Eden couldn't help but to grab whenever Lulu wore them.

"What did we do when Ava and Regan were little?" Johnny asked.

"Like I would know… all I know was that you were the only one who could calm them down when they went into one of their fits…" she sighed.

"Come on, Lu… unless if you want her to scream for the rest of the night…" he said, rocking Eden back and forth, and she gasped.

"You used to sing to them! That's what it was! You used to sing until they fell asleep!" she cried excitedly and Johnny grimaced.

"My voice isn't what it used to be…" he started and she rolled her eyes.

"Now is not the time to be modest, Johnny… and besides, she's not going to be much of a critic… she can't even talk yet…" she said.

Johnny sighed, knowing that he had to at least try, because at this rate, there was no way that either of them were going to be getting any sleep tonight. He carried Eden over to Lulu's rocking chair, the one that had belonged to Laura, and started singing.

"Got to be there… got to be there… in the morning, when she says hello to the world… got to be there… got to be there… bring her good times and show her that she's my girl… oh, what a feeling there'll be… the moment I know she loves me… 'cause when I look in her eyes, I realize… I need her sharing the world beside me…" he started.

Upon hearing her grandfather's soothing voice, Eden's cries began to soften. She knelt down next to the rocking chair, watching Eden look up at Johnny intently as he sang. He gently wiped the tears away from her small cheeks and smiled warmly down at the small little girl and continued to rock back and forth.

"So, I've got to be there… got to be there in the morning and welcome her into my world… and show her that she's my girl… when she says, hello world…" he sang.

Johnny gently stroked Eden's golden curls and she curled up into his chest. Lulu smiled and looked down at her granddaughter and found her fast asleep, hand clinging to Johnny's black shirt. She began to laugh but quickly covered her mouth, not wanting to wake her back up. Johnny let out a sigh of relief and chuckled softly.

"Nice work, Zacchara…" Lulu whispered.

"Thanks…" he chortled.

He gently rose, making sure not to disturb Eden's slumber. The two of them walked upstairs and into the twin's old bedroom, which had been made into a nursery/guest room. Johnny gingerly placed the little girl into her crib, gently prying her small fingers from his shirt. Lulu bent over and placed a kiss on Eden's forehead while Johnny pulled her pink blanket over her. She looked so peaceful as she slept that it was almost hard to believe that this little girl was screaming at the top of her lungs just fifteen minutes ago. With their granddaughter completely settled down for the night, Johnny and Lulu made their way to the door.

"You used to sing that song to Ava and Regan all the time…" Lulu whispered as she picked up the baby monitor and Johnny nodded.

"It was their favorite when they were little… they could be having the worst tantrum ever but as soon as the song was finished, they were out like lights…" he chuckled as he closed the door behind him.

"How come you don't sing to me?" she asked as she began preparing to finally go to sleep. Johnny paused, as if he were deep in thought, and then shrugged.

"I don't know… you throw tantrums enough so maybe I should start… maybe it'll calm you down…" he laughed but she was not amused by his joke.

"Oh really?" she asked, pulling back the sheets on their bed.

"I'm just kidding, Lulu… would you like me to sing to you?" he asked, as one of his boyish grins spread across his face.

"No…" she grumbled, turning away from him and burying herself underneath the covers.

Johnny just laughed and turned out the light. Lulu soon felt his arms snake around her and pulled her into his embrace. He kissed her cheek and began humming the song from earlier. The scowl on her face quickly melted and she relaxed into his arms

"That's why I've got to be there… got to be there where love begins… and that's everywhere she goes… I've got to be there so she knows... that when she's with me, she's home…" he whispered.

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**A/N (Part 2):** The song is "Got to be There" by Michael Jackson… I seem to be in a MJ mood lately but this song holds a special place for me because my mom used to sing it to me when I was little... I thought that it was a perfect song for Johnny to sing to **all** of his girls :)


	36. What a Wonderful World

**A/N:** Voila! Here's the last chapter of _This is Our Life_! Like all of my last chapters, it's always bittersweet to finish a piece. On one hand, I'm relieved that it all got done but it's sad because I really enjoyed creating my own JoLu world with making their memories and creating their family (which I totally fell in love with) But mostly, I'm just glad that you all really responded well to it. My new long series is coming soon! I know I've said this numerous times but you can trust me when I say that it's actually coming because it really is :) Happy reading and don't forget to leave a comment!

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**What a Wonderful World**

Both Johnny and Lulu used to detest the holiday season with all of its cheer and hope. Having their respective upbringings never reinforced the spirit of the holidays inside of either of them. Both of their mothers had loved Thanksgiving and Christmas but the love for the holidays disappeared when they disappeared from their children's lives.

"Grandma! Grandpa!"

_But now it was their favorite time of the year. _

"Eden! Oh my god, you've gotten so big!" Johnny cried as the young girl launched herself into her grandfather's still strong and willing arms.

Ava laughed as she carried what looked like three pie boxes towards the door of the house and Gavin was right behind her with a designer diaper bag slung over his shoulder and their six month old son, Harper Malcolm Spinelli, in his arms. Lulu went to her daughter and relieved her of two of the pie boxes.

"Come on… we've all been waiting for you…" Lulu chuckled.

"Oh! Regan and Jake beat us here?" Ava asked as they walked into the house.

"Auntie Regan!" Eden chirped.

The little girl wriggled out of her grandfather's arms and immediately went to her aunt, who caught her enthusiastically and swung her around. Harper let out a sharp happy cry and reached out to be held by his aunt like his older sister. Jake, who had completely embraced his role as an uncle, immediately lifted Eden into his arms while Gavin passed the little boy over to Regan.

"So the baby-making machine has finally arrived…" Regan joked as she kissed her sister's cheek.

"Ha! Well, you're well on your way too… where's Sadie?" Ava asked, referring to Regan and Jake's one year old daughter.

"She's terrorizing Chris and Ivy in the living room…" Johnny laughed.

Sure enough, Christian came in, holding Sadie Elizabeth Zacchara-Morgan and wincing because the little girl was pulling his hair and laughing exuberantly. Ivy followed behind him, laughing alongside the small girl at the expense of her boyfriend. Ava took the rambunctious little girl from her brother's arms and began making silly baby noises that made her laugh.

"Where are Maxie and Spinelli? They should've been here by now…" Lulu said, looking down at her watch.

"Oh, mom and dad said that they were going to stop by Patrick and Robin's before coming over for dinner…" Gavin said.

The group of them all made their way into the dining room where an elaborate Thanksgiving spread was laid out, complete with a giant turkey, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese, rolls and plenty of gravy. The girls sat and watched as the men attempted to assemble two high-chairs for Harper and Sadie so that they could sit beside their parents. Suddenly, they heard a loud knock on the door.

"Hi! Sorry we're late! But we brought the wine!"

Maxie, still impeccably stylish for her age, breezed through the door effervescently with Spinelli trailing along behind her. Johnny took the case of wine that Spinelli was holding and brought it into the dining room. Harper kicked his chubby little legs in excitement upon seeing his other set of grandparents stroll into the room.

"A thousand apologies from the Jackal and Maximista for our tardiness… the traffic was most gruesome on I-95…" Spinelli explained as he gave Harper a kiss on the top of his tuft of brown hair.

"That's alright… now that you're here, we can now say grace and start eating…" Lulu said, taking both Maxie's and Spinelli's coats.

Everyone gathered around the table and joined hands. Spinelli did the honors by saying grace and as soon as he was done with the blessing, everyone made a mad dash for the food on the table. As they took in the sight of their family at the table, Johnny and Lulu's hands reached for each other, locking fingers. Never in a million years when they found each other would either of them would've thought that they would be surrounded by such a huge family. However, now that it was a reality, neither of them could've imagined it any other way.

"So, Eden… why don't you tell your Aunt Regan about your dance class?" Ava asked.

"Ooh! Yes! I'm taking a ballet class just like you, Auntie Regan!" Eden cried.

"Ah, so we might have another prima ballerina in our midst?" Jake asked as he put an arm around his wife's chair.

"I wanted to get those shoes like you have… the ones where you can go on your tippy-toes but mommy says that I can't get them until I'm older and take more classes…" Eden pouted and Regan laughed.

"And your mommy is right… when you're older and after you take tons and tons of classes, then you can get pointe shoes." Regan explained but she was almost interrupted by the sound of Christian clinking his fork on his wine glass.

"Everybody? I have an announcement to make…" Christian proclaimed and the entire table became quiet.

"What's the big news, Chris?" Regan asked, eyebrow raised, as if she knew what was about to happen.

"Last week, Ivy made me the luckiest man in the world by agreeing to become my wife… we're getting married…" He said, never taking his eyes off his fiancée's ecstatic face.

Ava and Maxie practically squealed in delight at Christian's news. Both Johnny and Lulu immediately went to hug their son while the girls inspected the ring that Christian had given to Ivy. It was their Grandmother Laura's ring that she had left to Lulu to give to Christian when he decided to propose.

"Are you sure? I mean, are you absolutely sure that you want to get married so soon, Christian? You're not even out of college yet…" Lulu asked, letting her motherly concern briefly show despite her happiness that her son was so happy.

"I've never been so sure of anything in my life, mom. I know that what I have with Ivy is the real thing… like you and dad." Christian said.

Lulu embraced her son lovingly and Johnny shook Christian's hand, congratulating him on his engagement. After receiving his parents' blessing, Christian returned to his chair, put his arm around Ivy, who was beaming ear to ear, and pressed his lips to hers softly. Ivy whispered something into his ear and Christian immediately smiled. Regan and Ava laughed as Sadie smushed some stuffing into Jake's face. Gavin was babbling in baby-talk to Harper while Eden was engrossed in Maxie and Spinelli's stories about traveling to Paris, Tokyo, Sydney and Athens.

_This was their family._

_This was their life._

"Three beautiful kids… three equally beautiful grandchildren, with more on the way at the rate that Ava's going and then with Christian getting married this year…" Lulu whispered as she curled against Johnny on their couch.

"And I think that Regan's good for at least one more…" Johnny added in.

The extended family had dissipated from the Zacchara house. Ava, Gavin and the children had left with Maxie and Spinelli because they were staying in the palatial estate that Maxie had commissioned nearby about two years ago, Regan, Jake and Sadie had a deluxe suite, thanks to Carly's generosity, at the MetroCourt and Ivy and Christian were spending the remainder of the holiday at the Quartermaine mansion, most likely to make up for the fact that the newest Quartermaine prodigy was not dining with the illustrious family this year.

"We've had such a great life, Johnny…" she sighed.

"I know…" he said, curling a piece of her hair around her ear.

"You know… I've been thinking… since Christian has decided to stay abroad for the summer before senior year, it's really just us in this big house…" she said.

"Yeah, so?" he asked.

"Maybe we should be like Nikolas and Claudia and sell this house and move to Europe… you even said that you wanted to buy that French chateau that we stayed in all those years ago… we could even move into the villa that your family owns in Milan… we always have fun when we're at the villa…" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Christian took his first steps over there by the fireplace, Ava threw up on that chair over there after we came back from our first outing to Six Flags and Regan broke her ankle trying to jump down the stairs. We built this house together… this house is our life… we—we can't sell it… it's too precious…" he said, pointing out to every single spot that held a memory, and Lulu smiled.

"Ok… we won't sell this place…" she chuckled.

"So, are you ready for another fifty years with me in this house?" he asked, letting a grin spread across his face.

Lulu held Johnny's face in her hands and she smoothed her fingertips over his features, studying them carefully. His face still had the boyish charm that it always had but still reflected his mature age. His hair was flecked with grey, along with his eyebrows, making him look like a dashing and debonair version of his more youthful self. His arms enveloped her and brought her in close as they always did. They had been through hell and back and seen the worst and the best of each other. He had given her three perfect children, a beautiful home and a lifetime of wonderful memories. If allowed, she would live a thousand years to be with Johnny and to have just a fraction of the happiness that he had given her over these years. She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply.

"Always…" she whispered.

**THE END**


End file.
